The Little Red Fox with a Big Booty

I'm feeling a bit rantalicious today, but bear with me.

I spent a couple of weeks with my mom in August, and we went through years and years of financial records, photos, and other memorabilia.  And look what I found.

This is a photo I took of a picture, hence the poor quality. But look at me.  I was a fox!  (Funny I use that word because my college friend Julian called me foxy a few times. I never believed he was being serious.)  My friend Sarah was visiting at the time, we were just about to head out for a fun night--it was 15 degrees that evening, which was outrageously cold for south Georgia.  It was an evening of gloriously outrageous lawful misbehaving.

I felt so bad about the way I looked, though.  I'm sure you see that little pooch.  I thought it was huge. I thought I was a super fatty.  I thought my nose was too big, my skin not perfect enough, my booty too jiggly.

Circa 2002.

I look back now and think, what the hell was wrong with me?  I should've felt *good*, not bad.  Cute, smart, funny, and with a booty that many many men appreciate. I was too dumb to realize I was doing just fine.

And yet I know I wasn't the only one being too critical.  Women are notoriously negative about themselves.  Even now, friends of mine bemoan their momma-hips, their tiny double chins, and their flat hair.  It's just not worth it, though.  If you're taking care of yourself, shouldn't you be celebrating your difference than wishing to be like some perfect little thing in a magazine (who's been photoshopped beyond recognition anyway)?

So that's my lesson to you. Next time you're beating yourself up for being a little fat, or having a few zits, or frizzy hair, or whatever, just stop.  Ten years from now, you might regret how you held yourself to unnecessarily high standards and wish you had stopped the negative baloney and enjoyed living a bit more.

Thankfully, I'm through with that.  My hips are much wider than before, my nose seems to have even grown a bit, and my hair isn't that red anymore (I'm a blond except in the most perfect light, like my profile pic).  I may not be a fox, but does that really matter?  Nah.