Your Body Is Not A Work Of Art

"Your body is not a work of art" is a true statement. So why do so many people, and women in particular, spend countless hours wishing that theirs was one and even more hours feeling angry, embarrassed and even ashamed of their bodies because they fail to live up to the images in their minds?

The answer is obvious, isn't it? Beautiful bodies get lots of positive attention, which is great for the ego and for generating feelings of self-worth. It's a fact that women with "gorgeous" bodies are in great demand with virtually all cultures throughout the world and throughout time. Yes, the media-revolution has created an unprecedented explosion in demand for gorgeous bodies but it's not a new phenomenon.

So if your body doesn't quite fit into the category of "absolutely gorgeous", how can you possibly feel good about it?

If you want to feel good about your body then you need to start seeing it for what it really is. Not a work of art. Not a two-dimensional picture stuck on a wall for everyone to walk past and make whimsical judgements about. Not a statue that can be ignored, defiled, neglected or ridiculed. No, our bodies are none of those things.

Our bodies are amazingly complex life-forms that allow us to live, breathe, see, taste, smell, touch, feel, walk, jump, swim, hug, write, draw, eat, laugh, play and so on. And even if you're suffering from a disability or ill-health that prevents you from doing some of these things it doesn't mean that I am wrong, because your body is still doing many of these things. Pictures and statues can't do ANY of them.

So if you've decided that you hate your body because you are disappointed with the way it's turned out then you're being very superficial, aren't you? Yes, YOU are being superficial. You can blame glossy magazines all you want for pumping thousands of perfectly-manipulated beautiful images of women and men into our society but if you succumb to hating your own body simply because you don't like the way it looks then you are causing your own misery.

Your body is a sophisticated and unique entity that should be judged in its entirety not just by the size of its chest or the shape of its nose. If you are prepared to open your mind to the real value of your body then you can't fail to notice that it is actually very special indeed.

Here are some facts about YOUR body that are worth absorbing:

Your body uses ten different systems, which work as separate entities but depend on each other for physical and biochemical support, resulting in a true functioning co-operative. These are muscular, skeletal, cardiovascular, nervous, endocrine, immune, urinary, digestive, respiratory and reproductive systems. And these systems keep working on your behalf 24/7.

And here's another fact to blow your mind: your brain has around 12 BILLION nerve cells!

Wow, isn't YOUR body amazing? Doesn't it deserve a bit of respect? So what if you have a few stretch-marks or you’re a bit hairier than you'd like to be? Your body is still fabulous and there is an awful lot that you can DO with it that is fun and pleasurable.

If you have a negative chatterbox inside your head that drones on day-after-day, spouting destructive and superficial criticisms of your body, then maybe now is the time to tell it to shut up and stop being so unfair. Let's be radical and simply stop listening to it so that we can all start living in harmony with our own bodies AND other people's bodies too.

It's OK to celebrate your body openly so why not start today!