I know this because all of my life I strived to achieve the perfect body, yet inside, I was struggling. I had no compassion for myself. I had no confidence. I berated myself at every mistake or failure I made. Each time I looked in the mirror, I saw someone unattractive and unlovable staring back. It took the devastating loss of my marraige, my life as I knew it, to shake me awake and open my eyes to the beautiful, strong, and brave person I have always been.  It's unfortunate that change is so elusive for many of us. It takes a life altering event, such as an illness, death, or divorce to shake us from our slumber and knock us into changing ourselves for the better.

Health is a journey and everyone’s journey is different. In order to reach your ideal idea of health, you need to make a commitment to self-love. The journey to self-love is long and arduous, especially if you spent your entire life being critical of yourself instead of being compassionate. Making time for your journey to self-love might help you with underlying health issues you are experiencing. We live in world where people are on “go” all the time. We don’t take time to relax and rest because we think we’ll somehow mess up our lives or we will disappoint someone else. But all this work might just be causing us to mess up our bodies and minds.

I used to think health was a destination, one in which I had ripped abs, sculpted legs and toned arms, just like the models I saw on TV and magazines. These images contributed to my feelings of worthlessness and imperfections. However, the people in magazines or on TV are photo-shopped or must make drastic dietary changes to achieve their physique. The way they look isn’t sustainable over the long term.

As with anything in life, health is a journey, one in which we are on for our entire lives. The only person who is constant in your life is yourself. Why not love her or him by being compassionate, kind, and appreciative of everything your body and mind has done for you? 

Look in the mirror and tell yourself, "You are amazing." Repeat multiple times per day until you believe it and know it to be true.