SelfHelpCollective.com

Are You Willing to be Beautiful (Right Now)?

by Steve M Nash
(Holmfirth, W Yorkshire (UK))

— 5 Inspirational Quotes About (Womanly) You!

Are YOU The Girl From Ipanema? ("Tall and tan, and young and lovely...")

Or are you that latest 'hot young thing' on Instagram? (With so many drooling followers.)

Are you Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Gal Gadot, Emma Watson or Beyonce? (A-list success looks like this. For now!)

Chances are, I'm thinking, that you are not.

Shame, eh!

Yet still, you are beautiful - just you being you.

Oh yes you are!

Whether you are as slim as you are 'meant' to be. Or as young. Or as Western-looking.

Oh yes you are!

And I know that you know this - beauty comes from within, and all that - and I know that you keep forgetting too.

All those perfect Photoshop pixellations to compare yourself against. Each and every day. Not to mention everything else there is to worry and concern yourself about...

Anyway, I offer you a brief antidote to all that impossible-to-achieve nonsense. I offer you 5 inspirational quotes, and 3 inspiring actions that you can take right now, to help 'boost' both mind and body confidence.

• On the understanding that without mind confidence there can be no body confidence
• On the understanding that mind confidence ebbs, mind confidence flows
• On the understanding that you are imperfectly perfect just the way you are (right now)...

Quote #01

"By accepting yourself and being fully what you are, your presence can make others happy."
— Jane Roberts

Action #01: Be Mindful of Your Imagination

Anxiety is imagination in action. Did you know that? Yes, anxiety is simply a mis-use of imagination. Nothing more, nothing less.

Imagination of 'better', imagination of 'future', imagination of 'younger'... etc.

Now there's nothing wrong with anxiety, because, well it's simply your imagination in action.

So, then, being okay with yourself simply means being okay with your imagination.

So take a moment, now, to be mindful of your imagination. No judgements. No wishing it were different. Just notice.

Can you do that?


Quote #02

"Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their PASSION."
— Martha Graham

Action #02: Be Mindful of Your Body

The human body really is a miracle in action. The ingenuity of its design and its form. The female body even more so. And yet it can be so easy to take for granted, to mis-use.

Bodies like to be exercised. They like to run, they like to swim, they like to do yoga, they like to dance, they like to move. It's true. So find out how YOUR body likes to be exercised, today - even if it's just to go on a brisk walk - and exercise it, mindfully so. (Whether you choose to wear comfortable sports gear (e.g. Knix) or you don't.)


Quote #03

"Being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect. It means that you've decided to look beyond the imperfections."
— Author Unknown

Action #03: Be Mindful of Your Soul

Where is your soul? What does it feel like? How do you become aware of it?

For me, it's listening to new music that I love. Or it's smiling (for no reason). Or it's reaching out to help another.

Where is YOUR soul? What does it feel like? How do you become aware of it?


2 More Quotes and a Video

"Trust yourself. Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life. Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement."
— Golda Meir


"Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind. You are as old as your doubt, your fear, your despair. The way to keep young is to keep your faith young. Keep your self-c onfidence young. Keep your hope young."
— Luella F. Phean




~~

Boosting body confidence means boosting mind confidence means taking (some kind of) mindful action and being kinder to your experience of doing so.

Be mindful of your mind.

Be mindful of your body.

Be mindful of your soul.

And...

Be. Beautiful. You.

~~

Steve is a transformative coach, and editor of SMNash.com and SelfHelpColletive.com. He is also the author of a Daily Quotes Book. The quotes used in this article were taken from that book.