I haven’t done a Monday Musing in awhile, so I thought I would bring that back.  Sadly while the title of this post has the word cookie in it, there are no cookies.  I’m sorry, I’ll make it up to you soon I promise.  On with my musing.

Most of us want to be thought of as unique.  We want to be seen as individuals and to have no one else like us.  In general, I would say that these feelings are fostered in schools, at work, and in our daily lives.  We are praised for being us and told that there is not another out there just like us.  You think to yourself, “I am me and no one can be me like I can.”  That all stops though when it comes to our bodies.  Suddenly we want to have that person’s abs, that one’s buns of steel, and those eyes and hair.

You have probably thought of your dream body a lot.  I know I have.  I used to pour over magazines and watch movies and yearn for the perfect bodies that those people all seemingly had.  Why couldn’t my body look just like theirs?  I wasn’t happy having my own body looking the way I do because it seemed like everyone else looked a different way.  How many of you have done that?

I know that there are so many of us who constantly pick apart our bodies and wish to wake up with the body of a goddess.  I know that many of us work tirelessly to make that dream body come true, hoping if that we finally look like everyone else we will finally be happy.  I know many of us just want our bodies to blend in with the general population instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.  I have been there and I have felt those emotions time and time again.  It took me a long time to be able to start to accept my body for what it was instead of what it wasn’t.

I think that it’s time that we start valuing our bodies like we value our individuality.  We don’t NEED to look like everyone else, in fact unless you are an identical twin it is impossible to look like someone else.  That is ok.  No, that is great.  Just like you want your thoughts, ideas, personality, and talents to be special, you should want your body to be special.  It isn’t perfect, but guess what?  No one has the perfect body and that is a beautiful thing.

For those of you caught in the dark thoughts of poor body image, I know that you have heard these words before.  Love yourself, you’re special, no one can be like you.  Those phrases bounce off you and make no impact.  They all sound like ways to say you’re not beautiful but there are other things about you that you should be happy about.  You might not have the legs of a model, but you’re hilarious.  You don’t have long flowing hair, but you can sing like an angel.  Don’t focus on your lack of a six-pack, you’re the next Mozart on the piano.  Those are all good things to be, but when you look in the mirror and aren’t happy with what you see, those things don’t really matter.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to look like anyone else!  All you have to do is look like you.  Stop trying to come up with a way to look like the girl next to you at the gym.  Instead come up with ways to be proud of the body you possess.  It can do so much and it deserves a little TLC.  I know from experience that when you start to love what you have, your outlook becomes more positive.  You may never have rippling arms, but you have arms and they are pretty great.

I know this has been a long musing, but I can’t stress enough how important it is that we start loving our special bodies and stop trying to become clones of each other.  Start today by being thankful for the body you have and tell yourself that you are special and unique and there is NO ONE out there who has what you have.  Be proud of that.  Own it.  You are you and that is awesome.