Sometimes when you strive daily to inspire, motivate and encourage self-love and acceptance in others it can be easy to miss that something is not quite right in your world.

It is at times like this that getting hit in the face with a big, huge piece of humble pie is very, very likely (DUCK!!).

Recently I encountered this happening to me. I was so concentrated on getting my messages out to people, I neglected to check-in with myself.

Last week I ended up with an irritation on my chin. No big deal, right? I have sensitive facial skin at the best of times so I have had to tend to problem areas in the past.

For some reason this time was different. The small irritation quickly grew into a very angry-looking patch about the size of a loonie. The redness would not subside, the area became quite tight and sensitive to the touch and the skin started to mildly crack despite my best efforts with Coconut and Vitamin E.

I have my theories about why this happened which include everything from an allergic reaction to a virus. I will probably never know what caused it however if it ever happens again I will know to react more quickly with the home remedies I have discovered.

None of this was what really bothered me about the situation though. What did bother me more than the physical discomfort was the fact that I let this little area of skin make me forget my worth.

Let me explain…

On my coffee breaks and during lunch I almost always walk. I do this to relieve stress, stretch my legs that are stiff from desk work and to get fresh air. Normally when I walk I do so with purpose, with my head held high, a smile on my face and a spring in my step.

What I caught myself doing 2 days ago was NOT that. I started at as usual on my walk over the noon hour and as I was walking by a store window downtown I caught a glimpse of myself, but I had to look up to do it. My head had been hanging down while I was walking, my eyes were avoiding contact with anyone else’s and the smile that normally populated my lips was absent.

I stood for a moment in stunned silence. Why? Why was I walking like I used to? Why on earth was I portraying someone who wanted to be invisible? Then it dawned on me. Whatever was going on with my chin was spreading beyond my skin and sinking talons into my self-confidence.

It was at that moment that I gave myself a good, swift, mental kick in the butt and did an “about-face”. I spent the rest of that lunch walking with my head held high, looking forward with ridiculously large smile on my face. I almost instantly felt lighter as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

What I had unknowingly forgotten was so simple. Our worth as human beings is not defined by anything about ourselves externally. The impact we make on the world around us is not measured by our appearance or by material belongings but rather by how we choose to connect. Without realizing it I had been physically conducting myself like I didn’t want to connect which is the LAST thing I would ever want as anyone who knows me can attest to.

It is time for people to stop feeling like they have to hide if they feel they don’t measure up to societal expectations of “perfection”. I say FUCK expectations!! Time to ignore the air-bushing of pictures, time to do away with apps that “fix” our selfies so that friends can’t see the true you shining through, birthmarks and all. We need to see that our value in this life is not found at the bottom of a bottle of diet pills or in the number on the tag attached to our clothing (the only purpose of which is to stop us from being naked and arrested).

Our true value is found in the way we treat each other and the way we treat ourselves.

Wherever you are, whatever you are doing my hope is that you are able to KNOW THAT YOU ARE WORTH IT EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Love D.