Do You Have Good Body Confidence

Guest Post written by Kelly Ward

Hypothetically, if you were asked to stand in a room, completely alone, safe and secure, and asked to strip naked and take a look at yourself in the mirror, would you be happy to take a look? Do you think you would like what you see? Would you accept and appreciate what you see? Would you even look in the mirror at all?

If I were to ask those same questions to any random group of women, in any part of the country, I would bet my bottom dollar, that the great majority of ladies would answer no - No, they would not want to strip and be totally naked. No, they would not want to stand and look at themselves naked for any period of time. No, they would not like what they see...  If I were to hedge another bet, I would imagine they would talk about how they wish they had longer legs, a flatter stomach, bigger boobs, smaller boobs, were taller, shorter, fatter, thinner and so on and so on and so on. Society tells us, as women, we should be beautiful and desirable; with smooth bodies and perfectly coiffed hair. We should work out and wear clothes to suit our body shape and wear colours of make- up and clothing to match our skin tones. Make the best of what we have.

Through the media, the internet, pop culture and our own in-built programming we are a whole nation of body conscious individuals... but what if you have had a major surgery and part of you is missing? What if you have scarring from all your surgery? What if you wear a prosthetic? What if you wear a colostomy bag? What if you are not “normal”? How do you face the mirror then?

One small step at a time.

Body confidence, like every other example of confidence, has got to be an inside job. It has to come from within to be projected out. We all know or have seen those confident types right? They swish into a room and command attention. They are comfortable in their own skin. Now I’m not talking about the clothes or make up they wear here, I’m talking about their inner confidence and beauty that shines right out of them when you meet them; true confidence, no matter your size or shape, is a truly sexy and powerful thing!  These confident types are beautiful, because they love and respect themselves, not because they are perfect.

If you think you are beautiful and tell yourself you are beautiful, you will then begin to see and feel your beauty. If you think you’re not beautiful and tell yourself you are not beautiful, guess what’s going to happen? That’s correct, you are going to believe yourself and pick at yourself and dislike yourself and hide yourself away more and more over time – such a waste of yourself eh?

How do you help your body confidence grow? How can you be sexy after surgery? How can you rock the new body you now have? How can you feel like a confident, happy woman?

One small step at a time

Here at Swimming After Surgery (SAS), we aim to provide a service to help woman regain their confidence through physical exercise, group meetings  and social events with women who have walked the same path, and by using social media to engage and discuss issues that we may have. Over the next coming weeks we will be discussing the issues of body confidence more in depth and other issues such as clothing, travelling, relationships, sex, working and employment and many, many more subjects. If you have a question you would like to ask, please do ask and no subject is off limits (you can remain anonymous) please email us at swimmingaftersurgerysas@gmail.com

We would LOVE to hear from you. We would love to have your feedback, your comments or your questions.

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NEXT WEEK: The Importance of Building a Healthy Body Image