Clothes Shopping: What are you making it mean?

 👖CLOTHES SHOPPING: WHAT ARE YOU MAKING IT MEAN? 👖

Yesterday I went shopping for some new clothes. I’d checked out the store online before going, and found several things I thought were cute.

I was excited to go because now that I’ve been shopping more regularly, I’m loving how I feel in my new clothes.

After all, my renewed interest in shopping is a fairly new thing.

Before, I was stuck in the trap of waiting until I lost a few pounds before I felt like I could go shopping. 

Before, I had a closet full of clothes that I was still hoping to fit back into, if only I could stick to my diet longer than 2 weeks.

Things changed for me a couple of months ago when despite not wanting to, I went shopping anyway.

I’m not going to lie. My first shopping experience was traumatic. But I kept going, and ever since then, I’ve bought so many cute clothes.

I wear my new clothes almost every day now, and I feel so beautiful in them.

So yesterday, I set out to buy some more. I got to the store and chose 2 dresses I loved based on the pictures I saw online.

I went into the dressing room [and deliberately practiced the skill of looking at my body in the dressing room mirror WITHOUT being critical...that’s still a hard one for me].

I tried on the 2 dresses, and although they both fit, neither was very flattering on me. 

I simply couldn’t imagine myself wearing either of these dresses and feeling beautiful. 

So I put the dresses back and left the store. 

HERE’S THE PART THAT’S STILL BLOWING MY MIND…

Even though the clothes didn’t look good on me...I didn’t get upset. I didn’t beat myself up. I didn’t tell myself I needed to lose weight. I didn’t tell myself to eat fewer calories or exercise more. 

It’s all about what you CHOOSE to make it mean.

For me, I chose to make it mean that yes, those were nice dresses and they looked good on the models online, but they fit my body differently.

Notice, I DIDN’T make it mean that I’m fat or ugly. I simply made it mean that we all have different bodies, and the same outfit doesn’t look the same on all of our bodies. And that’s ok.

I struck out yesterday while shopping, but I’m not devastated by the experience. I’ll simply try again another time. 

There’s a million dresses out there, and I know without a doubt that there are some that look great on me. They just weren’t in that particular store yesterday.

THAT’S WHAT I MADE IT MEAN. THAT’S IT...AND THAT’S ALL. 

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