So the other night Jodie and I got pictures from our 10k race.

I actually said to Ryan when we got them, “Well those weren’t very attractive angles are they?”

Ryan shook his head at me and said, “You never really like photos of yourself.”

I started to make excuses saying that I did usually like photos of myself just not certain angles because certain angles highlighted my flaws.

But as I made the excuses, I realized they weren’t completely true. I usually SEARCHED for flaws in photos. I tore apart every photo of myself searching for any bulge or wrinkle instead of just looking at a photo and saying, “I look good.”

Which, honestly, is kind of weird since I’m usually not negative about how I look…I’m actually usually pretty confident and happy.

Ryan then said to me, “I wish you could just see yourself the way I see you.”

Ouch..That comment hurt and struck a nerve.

My only response was, “I see myself accurately.”

But now, I wasn’t so sure.

Why couldn’t I just look at a photo and be happy with how I looked? Why did I even find flaws in photos that other people complimented me on?

Later that night, Jodie brought up the photos of us at the race. She wasn’t happy with them either, which made me sad since she looks great!

I told her that I didn’t like the photos either and that I thought I looked bad in them too. I told her that I did believe they were just from a bad angle.

She wasn’t appeased and said she didn’t like other photos from the day as well.

When I said, “I think we females just NEVER like photos of ourselves.”

Another female client then chimed in as we discussed not liking ourselves in photos.

She said I should watch the new Dove viral ad and later that night she texted me the video.

If you haven’t seen it, please take a second now to watch it. It struck a note with me and I hope it also enlightens you.

We, women, are especially guilty of focusing on our physical flaws instead of celebrating all of the great things about our bodies.

We need to stop.

Why do we hone in on the one spot that we don’t like, no matter how small, until it is all we can see when we look at a photo? Why do we ignore all the beauty and instead seek out that one supposedly negative and ugly spot?!?

Why can’t we all see our own beauty?

I see beauty in all of the women around, but it doesn’t fully matter because they, themselves don’t see it. I even tell other women the are crazy when they criticize themselves for certain things.

I will say things like, “Only you see that. I don’t even know what you are talking about. You look great!”

And I mean it.

But then when it comes to applying that mentality to myself…I just don’t do it.

Ryan said, “I wish you could see you the way I see you.”

Dove said, “You are more beautiful than you think.”

Ladies, let’s start listening. Let’s start recognizing our own beauty.

Because guess what, WE ARE ALL MORE BEAUTIFUL THEN WE GIVE OURSELVES CREDIT FOR!