from top to bottom
Posted: August 2, 2010 at 5:52 pm
In honor of Caitlin’s Operation Beautiful book release this week, I am contributing a post to the “Change the Way You See, Not the Way You Look” campaign. I have said before that I believe the message behind Operation Beautiful needs to be spread far and wide. This post even fits nicely with the 30 days of insight I’m doing with some other bloggers. Today’s topic was something that inspires you. What could be more inspiring than learning to love yourself and see your true beauty?
When I considered and prayed over what to write about, one thing came to mind. Love every part. Top to bottom. Inside and out. So that is what I am going to share with you today. Myself. Top to bottom and what there is to love about every single bit of ourselves.
Heads up! These globes sitting atop our shoulders house something that can be our best friend or our worst enemy. Our thoughts rambling around in our brains. From your head comes the power of positive thinking. As well as all the quirks in your personality that make you unique and interesting, which is a beautiful thing. This powerhouse also drives those smarts, from knowing how to concoct fabulous recipes to how to write with words that grab an audience to solving any problem laid before you. Celebrate your mind and what it can do.
Looky here! Some say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I say the eyes are the window to the world and appreciating yourself. Your eyes can see the beauty in the world and the loveliness in others. Not because of their size, but because of their heart. Your eyes can express yourself, whether crying tears or flirting with “come hither” looks. Your eyes sparkle with life and are beautiful.
Say cheese! Check out that smile. That smile that shows the joy of your heart and at the same time your inner beauty. That smile that welcomes others into your presence and makes you feel better on a bad day. The smile that can light up a room because every smile has that power. The smile that exudes confidence and in confidence is beauty.
Spread like wings! Your arms have an important purpose. They embrace a friend. They can carry a child. They lift weights and exhibit strength. They can flow in dance and punch out frustrations in a kickboxing class. Your arms are powerful and strong. They show your strength of body, spirit, and heart. What is more beautiful than that?
Palms up! Your hands are the givers of your soul. They can write a blog to motivated others or a letter to support a friend. They can touch a lover or open up to give a gift. Hands are the tools used to create. They can serve others in cooking meals, building houses, or applauding someone at the end of the race.
Pump, pump, pump! The heart is amazing. It keeps you living with the blood it pumps. It holds the precious entity of your soul. It can break in two and grow back together stronger. It lives and never stops.
My center! The stomach. It processes fuel to support your body. It functions smartly because it knows when to signal hunger and fullness. It can bear a child and bring life into the world. Well, that part is close enough to the stomach. See my baby growing? 😀
Check out those gams! Legs, butt, feet. All so beautiful. Watch how they move your body and enable it to run, dance, walk, and play. They even do amazing things like squat heavy weight and carry you around day after day. They help you go new places. Who can deny the beauty of movement the legs give us?
Your body is all of these parts. Each one matters and each one is beautiful. All these parts work together to bring you a life. A life worth living to the fullest. Don’t let it pass you by and appreciate every part. And just as our bodies have parts that all work together, so should we, as women, all work together. Let us uplift one another. Let us help each fellow woman to realize her beauty and the fabulous person she is. If we all work together, like our bodies work together, we can achieve great things.
Never forget. Your body is God’s masterpiece. Even more valuable than the Mona Lisa. Have you appreciated it today? Do it now. Say “I’m beautiful!!!”
- What is one part of yourself that you believe is beautiful. Why?
- How can you help a friend see her beauty?
- If you came across my blog from Caitlin’s you can learn more about what Faith Fitness Fun is all about HERE and a few random tidbits about myself HERE. I hope you comment and come back to visit again. I always love connecting with other bloggers and new readers!
Tags: body image, self-love reflections
What a wonderful wonderful post!!!
Wow – LOVE this Tina! Such a creative spin on it.
Truly a beautiful post – every part of us is strong and wonderful!
I love my eyes – not only are they a startling blue, but they reflect exactly what I’m feeling at the moment – playful, inquisitive, wounded, bored, whatever – they’re the compass as to what I’m thinking and feeling!
Aww I love your baby belly!
Such a cute post Tina! I think it is so easy for us to lose sight of some of the things that are “truly” beautiful about ourselves and each other!
you are so beautiful Tina…thank you for this awesome post! i love my eyes…they are blue and beautiful 🙂 i love the idea of operation beautiful, but to touch the women in my life i like to email them, text them, call them, and tell them in conversation how amazing and beautiful they are!
Beautiful post!! Love that little baby bump!! 🙂
This is beautiful – I wholeheartedly agree that often times we’re too focused on the things that don’t matter at all when the simple miracle of being healthy and fit and alive is the most amazing thing in the world.
Very true. Our bodies are a miracle that deserve our love and respect. 🙂
wow I love thsi post! you are beutiful!!! one part of me taht I love is my eyes. Blue eyed, brunette with dark skin isn’t the most common of combinations, so I embrace my eyes!!
I love that about you too. Makes you stand out. You know I think you’re gorgeous!
oh wow, what a beautiful post! i love that reminder: we ARE God’s masterpiece 🙂
Yay for baby bumps!!!! So adorable 🙂
I love my uber long neck 🙂
Awww… I really like this.
My favorite body part is my legs. They amaze me after every race I do! And make me feel so strong as a woman… 🙂
Tina, this is a great great post. Amazing really 🙂
Love the new hair color!
My favorite body parts are my arms. They are strong and sculpted and make me feel good about myself 🙂
What a wonderful post!
My favorite body part is my neck/shoulders. They look really sculpted and I need my shoulders to wokr my arms: to type, to write, to cook, to drink, to exercise, to hug, to love.
Amazing post! Sometimes I forget to appreciate the body God gave me, instead of focusing on changing the things I don’t like. Thank you for reminding me.
I absolutely love this post! I love the top to bottom idea. Wow. I love my arms because they are toned, strong, and (got this from you) allow me to hug those I love.
♥ ♥ ♥ this post! You really are beautiful, inside and out! I think gratitude is beautiful and you certainly have that in terms of being thankful for what God, our Creator, has given you!
I think my smile is beautiful because when I smile my entire face lights up. Also, when I smile, I mean it! I want to smile more, even to complete strangers and be more joyful, too. God has blessed me with SO much abundance in my life and I think I should smile more wherever I go to radiate that joy and hopefully cause a chain reaction:)
Yay for smiling more! And since I couldn’t comment on your recent post – I think you did GREAT this weekend while traveling. You made the best of it and being off the normal routine for a few days won’t hurt. Smile for doing so awesome!
I admire you and I love this post!
I’ll work on saying it 🙂
such a great post, Tina! thanks for your candid compliments and celebration of what you find beautiful..most women are far too I dunno modest? insecure? to do what you did…much less write about it and blog about it which is a permanent record of it…bravo!
Wonderful post! I definitely get caught up in the trap of loving SOME parts of myself, while still bashing others. Great reminder that I need to work on loving myself from top to bottom, inside and out, b/c that’s how God loves me! 🙂
What a great post – thank you! I think my outlook on life is beautiful, and to help friends/family feel beautiful I try to get them to stop worrying so much about being judged by others and just be who they are. Because really, that’s beautiful 🙂
Great post!
I’ve always loved my hands. Not just because I have long, slender fingers and they’re pretty (though it helps). I was a musician and those long fingers made it easier to share my gift. I like to sew, and my dexterity enabled precision. I like to write, and it is through those 10 digits that I can share my thoughts.
Love why you love this part of you. And thank you so much for sharing my post on Twitter too. 🙂
Love this post, girlie! So inspirational! I think my “favorite body part” is…my brain. Seriously, it’s taken me a really long time to get my brain and the rest of my body on the same page. Now, I try not to think of myself in parts–but in whole.
I always say that my body is my vehicle, and just like a car, I have to take good care of it, keep it running, and keep it full of fuel. If I don’t treat it right, then someday it will break down on the side of a major four-lane highway in the middle of a torrential downpour 🙂
My ability to make people laugh is beautiful.
And I didn’t buy my tickets to the “gun show”, is it too late? Look at your arms:)
I love the pump and bump!!
Hahahhaa!!!! You crack me up! Thanks though. Totally made me smile. I can’t wait to get even more muscle and strength back.
Your baby bump is precious! And your words about the rest of your body are so inspiring. Thanks for this!
I did a similar post a while back. It’s okay to LOVE yourself! I love the idea since we spend so much time beating ourselves up. Enough!
I love my back. Yoga has helped creat muscles there that I am very proud of.
Tina…you are amazing. I truly come to your blog everyday for a good ole dose of postive energy. You simply make me want to be and strive to be a better person every day.
Also thank you so much for the kind words you left me today about my hand. It has been such a rough summer but I know that in the end everything will be okay. But when I start to forget that I feel like you always post something that cheers me right up!
You inspire me as well. You don’t know how much your words mean to me. I’m glad to help cheer you up. You deserve so much joy!
I LOVE this post!!! You are SO Beautiful!!!!! What a great post. I love operation beautiful, I didn’t know she had a book coming out! My favorite body part….I think I have pretty feet…and they help me to do all the active things I love to do!
The book is amazing! I just finished it last night actually. I highly recommend it. It came out today.
Awesome! I will check it out…ps…lil shout-out to you on the last post 🙂
Thank you for commenting on my post! Yours is so thoughtful and beautiful! I love it.
I must say, I feel most beautiful when I am laughing with others. I have an outgoing personality that makes me who I am.
You look stunning with the adorable baby bump! Congrats!
Laughter is a magical key to joy and loving life. And we can love life more fully when we love ourselves. That is a great thing to love about yourself.
Tina – so inspiring! Our bodies are definitely God’s masterpiece – more people need to understand/know/accept that! 🙂
What a beautiful post!
This is such a beautiful post! You are so confident and are a beautiful writer. 🙂
Hi baby!
Wonderful post! Love the pictures and confidence 🙂
My fave part of me are my eyes and my smile. How cute and adorable is your baby bump?
Our bodies are so strong and yet we don’t treat it very well. It puts up w/ a lot from us!
Thank you for this post 😀
Your belly is beautiful!
Gorgeous post! Everything you said is so true – now we all just need to remember it and live it! Love the growing belling 🙂
Wow, I meant to say belly!
You are such a glowing person whether it’s pregnancy glow or not :). This was an absolute beautiful post to contribute to Caitlin’s campaign and I hope many people get the opportunity to read it. I love my eyes because at one point in my life they were my biggest challenge.
[…] From Top to Bottom […]
Tina–you’re a beauty my day! inside and just as much on the outside.
And those green eyes–wow, so striking.
Is that your new hair? It looks a bit darker but still bright enough and so natural looking!
Great post! I am going to do mine tonight!
Look at those guns!! And your baby bump is adorable…
One part of me that I’ve felt is beautiful is my hair… so it’s not technically a body part, but I do love it and (usually) feel positive and confident about it. It’s unlike anyone else’s in my family or friends even, so it makes me unique!
This is a fantastic post! Thank you, I really needed it this week 🙂
Such a fun post! I especially love your baby bump pic – so cute 🙂
Amazing post! It left tears in my eyes – I think this message is so incredibly important for women. We are each created in God’s image and that’s the most beautiful part of all. I’m so excited to be following your blog and your pregnancy. Thanks for the positivity and inspiration. 🙂
Loved your post!! Your baby bump is adorable!!! 🙂
You are lovely. Your baby bump is beautiful!
My favorite part of me is my stomach. Yep, I think I have great abs. 🙂
Tina this is such an incredible post…I’m so glad you put it out there, and boy is it ever true. YOU truly are beautiful on the inside and out…and look at that cute, tiny little bump!! I LOVE your hair color by the way, and can’t wait to see it even darker
Beautiful post! I love it.
My favorite part of myself is my hair, my skin and my muscles. 🙂
So glad to find your blog – I look forward to reading more!
I love this post! I’m a little late, but in my world, reading this RIGHT NOW was perfect timing.
You are a gift to this world, do you know that?