You’ve probably noticed that I bang on a bit about body image, and how important it is to love yourself. It sounds so easy when you read someone else talking about their own journey to positive self image and their achievements. It’s not though, in reality it’s a fluctuating road and can be really difficult at times.

So I want to share with you what happened when I first saw this photo.

This was taken at an exclusive launch party that I was invited to, for a lovely friend who is embarking on a new venture. I was chatting with the photographer about something, I can’t even remember what, but it was funny and while we were laughing and chatting she took this.

It popped up on my facebook feed yesterday. The VERY FIRST thought that popped into my head was “ugh I look so fat”. Then I flicked it off my screen and tried my best to forget it. And then a friend of mine shared it to a networking group which I am a member of. I felt anxious to be completely honest, because I didn’t want anyone to see me looking “so fat”. Then another friend commented how happy I looked. I realised that I was letting that nasty voice in my head, the one that is trained to take over how we feel about ourselves, talk me down. So I opened the picture and sat with it for a bit.

I tried to stop seeing my flaws, and start seeing me the way other people do. Because even though that photo does not look like how I feel on the inside, that is the way that other people do see me. That is the face my children look to for reassurance and love. That is the face that my husband sees first thing every morning and last thing at night. That is me, happy, enjoying life. Being at a function with a phenomenal group of women, who are all successful business women. Making a connection with someone I’d only just met that night. That is the face that my clients look to for reassurance that they are beautiful. And most importantly, that is the body that allows me to wake up every morning, get up, and enjoy life. It may not be the prettiest, I may not be about to grace the cover of a magazine (not that I particularly want to), but I am healthy, I am strong, and I am alive.

Rachel x