Every now and then, I get these inspiring posts from Instagram about loving yourself and appreciating yourself for what you are. Thoughts like ” Admire someone else’s beauty while appreciating your own” and “the older you get, the better you get…unless you’re a banana.” Funny but true, at least for me.
I never really loved myself until I got older and had kids. I was looking at my photos when I was in my 30s and I even prefer myself now, 10 years later. The quest to feel beautiful was an uphill climb. In fact, I would like to think the battle scars and experiences transformed me into who I am now.
I remember when I was in my teen years, my older sisters called me “Panget” in jest because I was this teenager who was all stick and bones. My idea of beauty then was to have a little meat in my body. I religiously drank milk and ate a lot, to no avail. Little did I know it will just take time. I did not have a boyfriend until I was 22 and I had hips by then. Being more womanly-looking became a liability because of the not-so-easy task of shooing off the boys, whew.
Motherhood came and those nagging self-image issues cropped up again. I had this ugly caesarean scar from giving birth to the twins. My weight went up and down too. And taking care of young kids and a household while having a job meant that I neglected myself. I did not really see the point in looking my best when I had more pressing priorities.
This is why am all for pushing Dove’s current campaign to #BeYourOwnKindOfBeautiful.
The leading beauty brand was thoughtful enough to send me these gifts. I really liked the personalized notepad because it now enables me to write my own reflections about what real beauty is all about.
To answer the Miss Universe question on what real beauty is all about, it is all about feeling confident in your own skin and being good as a person from the inside out. We all know about these exceptional women who may not be drop dead gorgeous but whose inner glow shines with the light in their eyes.
True beauty is not having make up on all the time or having the fanciest outfit. Beauty to me is a woman with her kid in tow, wearing basic white tee, denim, sunglasses and a mommy bag. She’s “been there and done that.” That is what makes her beautiful in our eyes.
Head on over to www.dove.ph to read more about Real Beauty and why it is Universal (read: not just limited to one type of physicality)
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