Good Morning, Gorgeous!

Tonight, I'll be speaking to a local book group that's reading You'd Be So Pretty If... (If your book group would like to read it, I'd be happy to call in to be part of the discussion...email me!). One of the things I'll be talking about is the story behind how the book came to be -- and, in many ways, that's a story about words: The words we use to talk about ourselves.

I love Twitter's search feature as a tool for keeping up with body image topics in the news. But it's also a quick inside view into what a bunch of people are thinking and feeling. A recent search brought up not only mentions of news articles on the topic, but also snippets from people tweeting about their bad body feelings. Here's just some of what I read:

• "I'm tired of hating myself."

• "It's so hard to stay motivated when you feel you look like a whale."

• "Nothing goes right when ur feeling self-conscious."

Ouch.

Besides not feeling good about themselves, these tweeters share something else in common: A recognition that body image is about so much more than what you see in the mirror. Got a big presentation at work today or an important test in class? What does it do to your confidence if you can't stop thinking about how awful you look?

Quite simply, the words we use to talk about ourselves can dictate the kind of day we're going to have.

So just for today -- it's Monday, after all -- I want you to look in the bathroom mirror, smile a big smile and say to your reflection, "Good morning, gorgeous!"

I know, I know...it's tough to do without laughing, isn't it?

It's a silly little exercise, but throughout the day today, whenever you catch yourself thinking negative thoughts about your appearance or your body, I want you to think of me and say to yourself, "Good morning, gorgeous!"

One of two things will happen: Either you'll realize how often you're critical of yourself in the course of a day or you'll be giggling so hard that you won't have the energy to criticize.

Either way, I hope you'll remember the power of the words you use to talk about yourself...and be a little nicer to that person you see in the mirror.

Comments

[Dorene Braun]

Why does even thinking about doing this make me cry?

[Dara Chadwick]

Nice to meet you, Dorene...I'm glad you stopped by. Why does it make you want to cry?