“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we have it not.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882).

When you are ready to go out the door, and check the mirror for that last-moment look, you might say, “Wow, this is good.” If you can say this and mean it, you are one of a small percentage of women who likes her reflection. If, however, you give a sigh or a groan it’s important to know what prompted that sigh or groan. Is it your body? You might wonder why you were born the way you are, and would like to change things about your body. What would you change if you had a magic wand? What is your list? Whatever it’s, there are ways to dress in a way for you and your friends,and everyone you meet to say, “Wow, she’s beautiful!”

The form, shapes, proportions of your body are what make you distinctive and memorable. It’s critical to the health of your soul that you begin to honor your body and speak encouraging words about yourself. Rather than saying you have thunder thighs, or saddle bags, you might say you have a full womanly curve in your thigh that is asking for skirts that gracefully flow over the thigh and continue on out in the form of an A-line skirt or bell-bottom pants. As you begin to speak positive messages to yourself you begin to see possibility for your individual beauty and style.

It could be that you think your body is fine but you still don’t like your reflection. Trust that something is wrong with the picture in the mirror. Your clothes might be too bright or too dull. Your accessories too flashy, or you need to accessorize your outfit. Maybe you don’t know how to apply makeup, or you need a new hairdo. It could be that you simply want to make the most of how you look. The reality is: You don’t have to change your body, you probably need to change your clothing…. Or your makeup, or your hairstyle.

Diana’s story

Diana came to me having no idea how to dress her size fourteen, five foot eleven inch body. She had a large head for her short waisted, long legged body that looked even larger because of her short permed hair and old-fashioned owl-eyed glasses. She did not wear makeup, and felt hopeless in the beauty department. In her words, her mouth was too big, her eyes too tiny, her bust too small, and her hips too big. Not only that; she was too tall, and her legs were bowed! She was shy and unsure of her social skills so hid herself on the night shift of a large hospital.

After working together for the few months it took for her to believe she had a beautiful body it was as though a magic wand had been waved. She stopped perming her hair, and had grown it to shoulder length, bought new glasses, gone on a major shopping excursion, taken a trip to the tailor, and booked a session with a makeup artist who taught her ‘natural’ makeup techniques. Her self-esteem catapulted, heads of friends and strangers alike turned when she came into a room, and she had the confidence to pursue her hidden dream of becoming a graphic designer.