I recently read the book Unmasked by Turia Pitt. This incredible lady was doing an ultra race when she came up against a fire. Unfortunately she was unable to avoid it and ended up with burns to about 65% of her body. Her rehabilitation was long and gruelling, most people would have given up and lost their confidence and drive to succeed. She was told that she would never be able to run again due to the severity of her burns and the damage it caused her body. However she managed to defy all the odds and has ended up competing in several Ironman competitions. I’m sure you have heard or seen Turia in the media. She is now writing books for teenagers to promote positive body image. Such an incredible woman with such an amazingly optimistic outlook on life. So it made me think, if someone so badly burnt with disabilities that make her life more of a challenge, can be so positive, look sexy and be strong, then why can’t we all be like that?

I think I can safely say that we have all gone through phases in our life where we feel bad about: the way we look or where we are in life compared to others. Social media bombards us with images of beautiful people with perfect lives. It sets the standards high and the feeling of self love..low. Everyone is comparing what they look like, what they have and what they do with strangers on social media. But we don’t know how happy these people really are? They may look sexy, have all the beauty and riches in the world but be inwardly miserable.

Start your day in a positive way

Every day YOU have the power to make yourself feel sexy or feel bad. When you wake up in the morning, you can either focus on your flaws or try focusing on what you have that is amazing. What are you grateful for in your life, the areas of your life/body that you like or even love. You’re alive, you have a bed to sleep in, a roof over your head, clean water, food, a fresh day to make of it what you want.

Actually listen to what you are saying to yourself

Every day if you say negative things to yourself like “I’m too fat”, “my arms are flabby”, or “I’ve got such a big forehead”, you are killing your real beauty. Does it make you feel good? Of course, not. Would you talk to someone else the same way you talk to yourself? Watch this really interesting quick clip which demonstrates just how badly we talk to ourselves. Instead choose to feed yourself with positive thoughts, celebrate your wins, big and small, highlight your strengths and assets. Say “Good morning, beautiful! You are going to rock today”. Do this every morning when you get out of bed, it actually makes you feel good about yourself.

Turia Pitt suffered burns to 65% of her body, does it slow her down? No. She is running, modelling sexy swimsuits, she’s on the front cover of magazines showing where sexy really is at! Sexy is you! It’s YOU believing in YOU, it’s you giving yourself the pep talk that you would give to your best friend. 

Body positivity doesn’t happen overnight. There will be days where you wake up feeling crappy. But only YOU hold the key to making yourself feel good. As Turia Pitt said:

Beauty is: standing up straight, having confidence, looking people in the eye and having the ability to look in the mirror and think, “Yep, I look damn fine today”. And yes, you look sexy and damn fine today.