The Greatest Love of All

Being a woman in today’s society is not easy, as the concept of what is considered “attractive” has dramatically changed over the years. I have a unique perspective on this because I work for a bathing suit company. All day long I field calls from women all over the country who do not like their bodies. They feel they are too fat even if they are a size zero. Their breasts are too small or too big and they do not like the way their backside looks. They call and tell me the name of their plastic surgeons and their desperate hopes of “ losing just five more pounds!” These women give me their measurements and fretfully ask me if they will look all right in one of our bikinis, and I do my best to reassure them.

Body image is an issue near and dear to my heart because recently I lost 70lbs. I didn’t have surgery or join any weight loss programs, I simply started to exercise and eat less! I’m still not “thin” by conventional standards, but my appearance has changed dramatically. I came to realize “attractive” is not based on what size jeans you wear, but how you carry yourself. If I feel awkward and ”fat” that is how the world will see me regardless of what it says on the scale.

From the executive to the housewife all of these women have the same issues, and it makes me wonder…if we as women stopped obsessing about those “last five ponds” and instead focused that energy on something positive what good we could accomplish! It is our differences that make us unique, and we are all in our own way beautiful. Beauty radiates from the inside out! When I get down on myself, I volunteer for a local cause or donate to charity because I know that I am helping people, which make my insides beautiful. Outer beauty is fleeting, inner beauty lasts a lifetime. Sexy is not a particular body size it is a state of mind. If you feel attractive, you are.