I first heard this on Momastery and it really stuck with me.

It’s easy to go through life focusing on all of the things that are “wrong” with your body and women’s magazines will certainly stand by your side and make you feel bad about yourself:

Your legs are too short.

Your butt is too big.

Your boobs are too small.

Your hair is too straight.

Your feet are ugly.

Your teeth are crooked.

Your eyebrows are too light.

Your arms are flabby.

Your nails are chipped.

And on. And on. And on.

But what if we change the way we look at our bodies? What if we look at our bodies as the paintbrush that creates the masterpiece, rather than the painting itself?

Think about all of the things you can accomplish with your imperfect body:

You can dance.

You can feed your child.

You can bring a smile to a lonely stranger.

You can build and write and run and paint and climb to the top of a mountain.

You can smell lilacs and your grandmother’s perfume.

You can hug a child and save a rescue dog.

You can kiss scrapes and make them better.

Your body can create joy in a million different ways and it doesn’t matter if your arms, butt, boobs, abs, teeth, hair, eyebrows or feet are “imperfect.”

You are perfectly designed to create.

YOU are a paintbrush. Create your masterpiece.

Image by Mike Fox

The post Your Body is the Paintbrush, Not the Painting appeared first on Advice for My Daughter.