The Short Answer:
Find a swimsuit that you love and you feel great in. #duh
The Long Answer:
It’s not always that easy. If you don’t feel confident about who you are and what you look like, there is no perfect swimsuit that is going to change that.
Remember, we are our own worst critics. So, go easy on yourself. Most people on the beach are more concerned with how they look rather than how you look.
It’s completely normal to feel a little self-conscious, but if you really want to rock a swimsuit, here’s what’s hot versus what’s not.
Hot vs Not
Hot: Feeling confident and comfortable in your skin regardless of your shape and size.
Not: Hiding yourself because you don’t look like the retouched supermodel on the cover of the magazines in the grocery store checkout line.
Hot: Not caring if you have stretch marks, cellulite, or imperfections and running around, swimming, and having the time of your life as if you had the perfect supermodel body anyway.
Not: Avoiding getting in the water because you are afraid someone might see that mole/scar/imperfection.
Hot: Smiling, having fun, and being present.
Not: Sucking in your belly till you can’t breathe, and not having any fun at all because you are too worried about how you look.
Feeling comfortable in your skin again
Once I started treating myself and my body with respect, I started feeling comfortable in my own skin for the first time in my life. For a long time, well my whole life actually, I hid under layers of clothing because I didn’t feel like my body was “good enough.”
There was always something that I had to hide.
Investing in myself and making myself a priority again got me from always hiding my body, and unwilling to even take a picture with my kids at the beach, to feeling great about how I looked, even though my body really hasn’t changed much.
Yes, I have taken better care of myself over the past few years, but if I wanted to, I could still choose to focus on my “imperfections.”
But now, I am choosing to focus on making memories, having fun, and being present instead. And, that’s much hotter than any swimsuit on a hanger.
PS — Have you taken the FREE 5-Day Brave & Bold Challenge yet? Your life is waiting.
Originally published at medium.com