As a woman, it has taken me nearly 50 years to come to terms with my looks and my body. My thighs were too big, my boobs too small, my calves and ankles were better known as cankles. My nose was too small, one eyelid wouldn’t open completely, and my smile was too small.

Looking back at pictures of myself over my life, I see the beautiful person that I was, that I am, that I’ve always been. And I’m sure that if my mother ever knew how I felt about myself all those years, a part of her would have died inside because she loved me completely, unconditionally, and in her eyes I was perfect . As she was to me.

The following video is a powerful illustration of how our vision of ourselves differs from how others see us:

What about you? Do you struggle with a poor self-image? If you’ve overcome a poor self-image, how did you do it? How much do you think society factors in to how we see ourselves?

I love hearing from you. And to prove it, for every comment you leave, you’ll be entered into a drawing. At the end of the month, I will draw a lucky winner who will receive a $10 gift card (your choice, Amazon, Starbucks or iTunes). Winners will be announced in the first post of the following month.