What if Your Biggest "Flaws" Aren't Flaws at All?

We are our own worst critics.  I know I am. 

I wonder what you see when you look at the below pictures...because I see the same giant flaw in all of them:

 

 

 

 

 

 

That horribly crooked front tooth!!

 

I am actually really self conscious about my left front tooth which is quite askew.  In every close up picture this is always what I see first about myself and I don't like it!  I prefer pictures that are far away so you can't see the offending molar :/

 

[It's my own fault this tooth is crooked. I wore braces and had beautifully perfect teeth for a short time.  And then like the stubborn teenager I was, I absolutely refused to wear my retainer and lo and behold, my teeth moved back to their old positions.  Ahh, youth is wasted on the young, eh? ]

 

I'm sure we all have things about ourselves that we don't like, or are self conscious of, in terms of our bodies, our personalities, our abilities, etc etc.  I used to be much more critical of myself in all of these areas but have become better through the years.  However, there are still many things I haven't fully accepted.  It's kind of embarrassing to say that - I mean I wish I could be one of those people who loves everything about themselves regardless of flaws, but I'm just not there yet.

 

If only I could be as confident as fellow Girls Gone Sporty Ambassador Brooke Birmingham!  Have you seen her blog post regarding her interaction with Shape magazine that went viral this week?  Her personal blog is apparently down because of all the traffic but the story was picked up by every major news network in the past two days.  Link to the story here.

 

Anyway, getting back to the tooth.  The reason I bring this up is because recently I've had a number of people out of the blue remark on how much they love my smile.  Most of them were people I didn't know, or didn't know well.  After the first few, I admitted to the Universe, 'ok I get it'.  I was on the receiving end of yet another message. 

 

I read an article recently on MindBodyGreen, which of course I can't find now, that said something along the lines of other people not noticing our mistakes nearly as much as we think they do.  This is so true.  Most of the time when we are having a 'bad hair day', or think we say something stupid, or any of a million other possible 'failures' throughout the day, no one else notices!  We are all usually too tied up in our own heads thinking about what we're doing wrong to notice small 'imperfections' in others.  And people who love us especially, tend to only see beautiful things, despite our flaws.  If only we could look at ourselves through the eyes of those that love us.

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is the things you may think are 'flawed' about yourself, may be the things that are actually the most unique and beautiful.  When I sat down to think about it I realized I smile a lot throughout the day.  I smile and laugh all day long with the kids.  I always flash a quick smile with strangers I make eye contact with - at the grocery store, runners and walkers I pass outside, people in cars that I let in front of me in traffic. 

 

A smile is a way to express your joy and happiness to the world, but even as I'm doing that I'm sometimes thinking about how my smile probably looks flawed because of that tooth.  But the Universe has just shown me (multiple times) that's not the case.  Well, if others don't see it, then I'm going to try not to as well.  From now on, I'm going to try to see the beauty and meaning behind that smile, instead of focusing on a misplaced tooth!

 

Happy Weekend everyone!

 

 

How about you?  Are you self critical?

 

Are there things you are self conscious about that others love about you?!