Use it or lose it, or work with what you have—two expressions which I will seize in order to talk about the gift of your unique beauty.
There’s only one you. The color of your eyes, the shape of your lips, the degree of your curves, your height, weight and skin tone—are all uniquely yours. No one else can duplicate it. Even if you have a twin, there exists some identifying feature, or physical attribute that belongs only to you.
So, what will you do with what you have?
Rather than obsess about what you like and don’t like about your appearance, why not take the time to experiment. Take some beauty risks with different colors and styles which you might normally avoid.
Experimentation was something that felt impermissible to me until I finally owned my authentically awesome self. As a child, I was teased mercilessly about both the size of my lips, and my rear end. When I met my future husband for the first time, he was introduced to a young woman who was completely clad in black whose idea of makeup was a meager hint of eyeliner. (The eyeliner was applied only to avoid looking like a prizefighter.)
As I share in Chapter 3 of my new book, Tough As Nails: Finding Your Voice as a Woman in the Workplace, I had to overcome many insecurities in order to get to the point of truly loving myself—including what I look like.
Today, a shopping trip to purchase the newest lip color would probably register the same on my ‘joy meter’ as finding a hundred-dollar bill on the street. And, my wardrobe is now frequently an array of fun and vibrant color choices which buck all norms around what to wear during specific seasons.
I encourage you to do the same. Experiment. Stray from the norms and do something dramatically different. If the whole makeup thing isn’t for you, how about trying out a new pair of frames for your glasses, or a new color for your contact lenses? I assure you that the very act will encourage you to step out of your old comfort zones as you find your way toward new ones.