"You would be pretty if..."

The following has not been written by me. I just wanted to share this article with whoever cares to read my blog. I found this online when I was looking for some food for thought for 20 something girls of my college. We are constantly been told..."You would be pretty if you lost weight"; "You would be pretty if you had longer hair." ;"You would be pretty if you did this, did that". It dampens sprits. This write up was exactly what I was looking for. Read on:

Feeling Good About Your Body Is Up to You

Contentment is an achievable state of being.

Published on June 27, 2011 by Dara Chadwick in You'd Be So Pretty If...

An editorial in my local newspaper recently touted the health benefits of looking on the bright side. It cited a 10-year study of Canadian adults, which found that "having a positive outlook on life can reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attack by as much as 22 percent."

That's a significant impact.

It's hard to accept sometimes that our thoughts can be such a powerful force in our lives. But they are. In my book, You'd Be So Pretty If...: Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies -- Even When We Don't Love Our Own, I mentioned a Harvard Business School study that found that workers who smiled felt happier at work -- even if they were faking it. I was fascinated by that idea, and found myself wondering if the same concept might apply to body image.

What might happen if women told themselves they were content exactly as they are? If they learned to see their bodies in a positive way?

Notice I didn't say "perfect" or even "beautiful." If you're a regular reader, you know full well that I don't believe in perfection. And for many women, thinking of themselves as "beautiful" would be a foreign and difficult concept.

But contentment? That's an achievable state of being, no matter where you are.

When I make a conscious effort to eat well, get some exercise and look after my own needs, I feel better--almost instantly. In fact, studies have shown that women who exercise feel better about their bodies long before their bodies start to change as a result of that exercise. There's something very powerful about shifting your focus from the negative -- e.g., "I'm so out of shape" -- to the positive: "I'm a person who cares about her health and is making time for exercise."

One of the great things about thoughts is that they build momentum. Learn to look on the bright side and before long, you may find yourself experiencing healthy, happy changes in many areas of your life. We can't always control what happens to us, but we are in charge of how we respond to the events and people in our lives. We may have negative feelings, but it's our choice to wallow in them or pick ourselves up and move on. The same goes for how we feel about our bodies.

That's a powerful concept.

Dara Chadwick is the author of You'd Be So Pretty If…:Teaching Our Daughters to Love Their Bodies—Even When We Don't Love Our Own, which grew out of her experience as Shape magazine's 2007 Weight-Loss Diary columnist. A former magazine staff editor, she's a New England-based freelance journalist specializing in health, wellness and lifestyle topics. Her work has been published in magazines such as Shape, Parenting, Working Mother, Family Circle, Woman's Day, Better Homes & Gardens, For Me and VIV.

 I have lost the original link but you could check out her  website