Through another's eyes.

I got my son's school photo order form the other day.  He's in yr 7, and a big 12 years old. Whole life ahead of him, a mind yet to be completely formed opinion- wise.

How disappointing then to see the photographer, for an extra fee of course, offers a touch up of school photos upon request.

Media advertisements, articles, movies, tv shows....all sell an ideal.  Everyone is made up to the eyebrows to look 'natural' and if there are any blemishes, tattoos, or other undesirable feature, it gets 'fixed' electronically.
 To be Perfect.

Women's magazines have a diet of the week/month....a new superfood every other day, statistics and exercise of the year to help you detox, lose kilos, drop dress sizes.  "I lost 5 kilos in a week!" and the before and after pics are amazing. Just replace 2 meals a day with this great new shake and turn into a grumpy cow who is starving and inwardly seething with jealousy whenever you sit down with a shake and watch others eat their lunch.

You may lose the weight but hey presto!  It was just temporary and has come back like a young adult child who has come back home, looking for their old bedroom and bringing a whole houseful of stuff with them.

We are constantly sold the idea of what we SHOULD look like and our mindset changes.  We HAVE to be skinny, we HAVE to buy those clothes, we HAVE to look good at all times....and we get stressed because we are not tiny with little waists and big 'gazongas', we have blemishes on our skin, our hair is going grey...and we think we are not enough.  Not pretty enough, not good enough, not skinny enough. Judge judge judge.

I'm the worst one for this.  I ran a 5k funrun on the weekend after 6 weeks off for injury. I ran it in 30 mins and 5 seconds.  And I was disappointed. Way slower than my best time, and it was hard work. I was running myself down until it was pointed out to me that not so long ago, I couldn't run at all. Not so long ago, just completing 5K would have been cause for celebration. And to be able to run it after 6 weeks of no running training is something to be celebrated.

I had to look at it through another's eyes.

Last night I was doing my weight session for Lean and Strong program (Michelle Bridges 12 Week Body Transformation). I began whining. " I'm just wasting my time. I'm weak as piss. I'm not getting anywhere. I'm not good enough."

My husband and training partner heaves a heavy sigh when I start talking like this. He pointed out that improvements will come and I have done so before. So I 'looked through his eyes'.
I saw the beginnings of definition in my arms. I looked at the weights I was using, not the lightest and not the heaviest.  I looked at the muscle tremors I was experiencing after a hard exhausting workout and knew I had done as much as I could. And I reminded myself of 2 things.
1. COMPLETE, Don't COMPETE
2. PERFECTION IS AN UNREALISTIC IDEAL.

Is this perfect?

Or this?

Or this?

Perfection is through the eye of the beholder. Pefection is based on personal perception. Perfection is in every one of these women.

So I'm not aiming for perfection in my own eyes.  I'm aiming for healthy.  Healthy mind, healthy body, healthy life....no matter what I look like or achieve.

* WARNING: some scenes may be disturbing*

Never ever feel you are less than perfect. Look at yourself through a loved one's eyes....and see yourself how they see you. .....perfect.