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[1, 2]
Learning to Live in Your Body
Chapter 2
The next step is to evaluate what you are willing to do to change
your looks. There are basically three ways you can change your appearance:
- through diet and exercise,
- simple changes in hairstyle, make-up application, or clothing,
and
- cosmetic surgery.
While changing your hair color takes relatively little effort,
losing 30 pounds requires a considerable amount. How much time and
effort are you willing to realistically put into changing
your appearance? Make sure that your goals are specific and attainable.
As far as cosmetic surgery goes, it is a pretty drastic measure
which should be used as a last resort, and you better make darn
sure that it is what you really want, because in many cases, it
will still not improve your self-image.
Now focus on the positives, take a good look at yourself and determine
what your best physical aspects are. Do you have a nice smile? Do
have luxurious hair? Is your butt firm? Make a mental list of all
the things that you like about the way you look, there are probably
quite a few on the list. Now, as most people look at someone's face
before anything else, you may find comfort in the fact that you
probably have one or more powerful, positive facial features that
people first notice when they look at you. As for your body, you
can wear clothing that accentuates your good points and hides your
flaws, as real or as imaginary as they are.
After you have a complete mental portrait of yourself, get comfortable
with it. As previously mentioned, the way you see yourself and the
way others see you are usually different. Take heart, others tend
to be much less critical, and overlook many negative things that
you notice about yourself and often maintain a more flattering perception
than you do. Look at yourself in the mirror and smile, tell yourself
you look great - all you have to do is reprogram your brain to be
more positive.
Having a positive, confident self-image will not only make you
feel better about yourself, but others will perceive this as well.
Many times we think that someone looks great, when really what they
have is an aura of beauty. I'm sure you can think of many examples
of famous people that are considered to be sexy, but upon close
inspection, are rather ordinary looking.
Get used to the way you look and train yourself to like yourself
better, the more comfortable you are with yourself, the happier
you'll be and the more others will see you as being attractive.
We are all originals, one of a kind… be proud of that!
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