A Surprising Way to Sink Insecurities About Your Looks

I’m going to go out on a limb and bet that you have an insecurity or two. Maybe even three. Don’t worry, though. We’re all in the same boat.

Or, at least we were.

I’ve recently discovered a way to step past my insecurities.  Want to hear it?

For me, it was always my arms. They were skinny. As a kid. As a teen. As a young adult. Absolutely no one was allowed to see them if I could help it. No tank tops, no sundresses, nothing strapless for me.

Except when it came to swimming lessons.

Swimming lessons were my nemesis. But, in my family, mandatory. You see, my dad lost his best friend to the sea as a young man.  In our house, knowing how to swim well meant survival. According to my dad, survival was not optional.

There I was in my swimsuit, baring my scrawny arms to the world. Exposed. Vulnerable. Miserable. Hating it with every fiber of my bony being.

Fast-forward 30 years.

These days, I smile when I see an old photo of my skinny arms.  I smile because I can see now that my arms were lean, defined, and perfect for my body. Fanning gracefully while I floated on my back in the pool. Ending in a perfect point at the start of a perfect dive.

What was I thinking? Those were great arms!

It’s amazing how time changes our perspective. Distance gives us compassion.

You see, although my issues may have changed a little after all these years, they’re far from gone. My arms are aging. My elbows are wrinkled. And my arms are no longer skinny anymore, either.

Ironically, that’s my new concern. I worry about flab. I think twice about sleeveless.

But those insecurities are only fleeting now.

And that’s because those photos prove how silly I was being.

I did have nice arms. I should have enjoyed them. I should have liked them. Right then. Not 30 years later.

You should like the arms you have, and the nose you have, and your teeth, and whatever it is you deem imperfect. Because you will look back in a decade or two and realize they were pretty darn close to being perfect.

So why wait? Why waste time? Why let insecurity steal away years of feeling good about yourself?

Whether we’re 15, 45 or 75 years old, we will never look better than we do in this moment.

Hindsight is 20/20. So look ahead and ponder what your older self will think of the “you” reading this article right now.

You are beautiful. Right here. Right now.

It’s the insecurity itself that’s ugly. Not you.

What do you gain by hating the way you look?

Nothing. It just saps the joy of life.

So put insecurities in their place. Throw them over the side. Watch them struggle. And don’t let them up for air.