Are You Swimsuit Ready?

Summer is here and with a rise in temperature comes weekends on the water, nights at the ball field, and tan lines. A season typically known for its carefree vibe, the warm summer sunshine has a way of lifting spirits even after the gloomiest winters.

The increase in heat also means a decrease in clothing. Shorts, tank-tops, and swimsuits are commonplace come summertime, and while they are a great way to keep cool, baring even modest amounts of skin can leave some feeling overexposed, anxious, and self conscious.

Quickly scan any newsstand and you are sure to read headlines appealing to the readers’ insecurities by promising new diets to get you “ready for summer” and exercises aimed at helping you get a “perfect swimsuit body”. Not only are those headlines often totally bogus but many (although, not all) are also full of intense and restrictive regimes which often yield unsustainable results. Not to mention, if you have a body (you do), and you wish to wear a swimsuit, you are swimsuit ready right now, as is.
Despite what the magazine and retail industries want you to think, approval or permission from the media and/or general public is not needed to wear one. Simply put, if you want to wear one, do. If not, that is cool too. 

Before you drop your next paycheck on a insta-fix claiming to cure your “imperfections”, consider that cure may not be about changing your body but more about changing your mindset.  

I've owned one bikini in my life and can distinctly remember the two times I wore it.  I wore it once on a girls trip to Mexico because of tan lines.  The other time was on my honeymoon because I knew I wouldn't run in to anyone I knew.  

I remember driving in the car years ago with my husband and he inquired about why I wouldn't consider wearing a bikini again.  My list of reasons included reasons like... I was approaching "that age" where a woman probably shouldn't wear one, I have cellulite, varicose veins, stretch marks, and of course, no six pack.  Clearly my body wasn't bikini ready.  

Or was it?

That was eight years ago.  

Fast forward to today.  At 32, I'm still approaching "that age" where a woman shouldn't wear a bikini (whatever the f*** that means?), I still have cellulite, varicose veins, stretch marks and no six pack. 

But I today I also have something else.........

A two piece.  

That's right.  I'm giving a big 'ole double bird to my so-called imperfections and.....it feels fantastic!  

 Ross' "secret language"

If I had chosen to wait until I had a body that met my former expectations, I'd still be waiting...possibly forever.  At almost a quarter of my life, eight years is just way too long to spend feeling limited by my expectations.  

  

Yea, all the stuff I'm not crazy about is still there but I've chosen to shine the spot light on what I love about my body and, maybe more importantly, what my body can do. Today, all those "flaws" don't ruffle my feathers anymore than a chipped nail or curls that fall flat.  It's just no....big.....deal.  

This mindset shift didn't exactly happen over night but I've realized that sometimes it's necessary to change how we see before we can change how we look.