I Love Me

Growing up I hated my nose.

When I say hated, I mean it because I really did. I would look in the mirror and all I'd see was a shoe in the middle of my face and it was not a "Christian Louboutin" one 'cause at least it would have been a fabulous one, you know with the red sole and all. I thought it was all people saw, A WALKING NOSE.

I got older and little by little learned to accept my nose and realized that it actually worked with the rest of my facial features and, to tell you the truth, I had seen too many nose jobs go bad that really I decided that, since this was the nose I was given, I was better off liking it. By the time I was 18 I had great self-image. For the most part, I had a high self-esteem and I thought of myself as an attractive woman ;) (don't mean to brag...) I really thought I had no more self image issues...until one day.

That day was the day my husband asked me, "Why do your hands look like that?"
That question took me on a journey back in time and made me realize that for a long time I had been abusing my hands. I would pick up hot things with my bare hands, I would use super hot water to do the dishes. They were dry and full of burn marks. I would even make negative remarks about them. I just did not treat them with love and, since they are part of me, I was not loving myself.

Learning to love who we are entirely, is the first step to getting ourselves back. We must learn to love ourselves in spite of our many imperfections and flaws. If we don't love ourselves unconditionally, the way God does, no one else will.

My hands were my issue, yours might be your weight, your hair, etc. If we don't love one part of us, we are not loving ourselves truly. Remember love is not an emotion, it is a decision you and I make.

Loving yourself is the best gift you can pass on to your children.

(To be continued...)

Love you all. Join me again next week!

If You Look, You Will Find

From the very moment I got pregnant (and we all know how that happened) something crazy happened to me. I was hijacked! I was no longer mine. I was someone else's.

While pregnant I couldn't eat my favorite foods. I couldn't eat sushi, I couldn't eat shellfish, I couldn't drink coffee, I COULDN'T DRINK WINE! I couldn't because "it was bad for the baby". At the same time I had to eat those foods I was used to staying away from before getting pregnant. I was told by my doctor to eat because I needed to gain at least a pound a week. A POUND A WEEK! So on came the unwanted weight and "it was all for the baby".

The baby is born and right when I thought it was finally over I'm told to eat like if I were still pregnant because now I was breastfeeding. You got it, still couldn't have that glass of wine I was dying to have. Then after months of sore, leaking breasts I decided that it was time to get my body back, so I stopped breastfeeding just to realize that things were different. What was up now was down, and what was perky now was... WHAT HAPPENED? I'M MELTING! it was like being in a horror movie. But since nothing could be done at that time I dealt with it and became bff with my push -up bra. Just when I thought I had gotten my "new" body back ( you know, the one with the relocated breasts) there he was pulling on my shirt, looking at me with his runny nose and sad eyes begging me to pick him up. So I was not only melting, my back was also crunching. And that's not talking about my husband's worst enemies HORMONES. He would find me in an ok mood and he would blink and there I was crying. He tried to help but nothing he did really helped my crazy hormones. And then, to top it all off, 8 months later when I thought I was mine again, BOOM! I was pregnant with my second child.

This is not just my story, this every mother's story. Your story may have some variations but the bottom line is that we all go through this kind of moments in motherhood. Although it is the most beautiful thing and I wouldn't have it any other way, motherhood can be hard, frustrating and soooo overwhelming that we get lost in it. It is so easy to forget who we are because now we are responsible for one or more beings who can't go through life without us. We make sure they eat, forgetting to feed ourselves. We make sure our kids are healthy sometimes neglecting our own health because we don't have enough time or whatever. We love to see our kids nicely dressed and we spend whatever is necessary to keep their wardrobe in sync with their fast growth but when it's time for us we don't dare to make the same effort. We have a hard time putting ourselves on our priority list. Most of the time we are the last person on it.

We get so lost under piles of laundry, walking runny noses and never ending shores that we forget who we were before becoming mothers. We forget that we are women, then mothers.

I want to invite you all to embark in a journey with me in this blog. I will share with you my experiences through motherhood. I will share with you what I have learned from so many women that has help me find myself and enjoy motherhood the way it was intended. I will share real tips to find who you really are, embrace yourself and love yourself so then you can be the best mother you can be. We all have said in some point or another " I just let myself go..." and I want to help you get yourself back. I don't know all the answers but together we can find them.

Just remember you are a beautiful woman. You may be lost but if you look, you will find.



Love you all,



Cynthia

Join me again next Monday