The fitting room can be a pretty daunting space for a woman, but this mom is inspiring us to challenge how we see ourselves in the mirror for the sake of our children's self-confidence. Brittney Johnson recently went bikini shopping with her daughter and discovered an important lesson about self-love and body empowerment. Her daughter inspired that breakthrough moment and it's pretty genius.
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The 27-year-old mom went shopping for a bikini at a local Target and found herself filled with self-doubt over what she saw in the mirror. She snapped this photo to send to her friends for honest feedback and instead noticed her little daughter in the corner of the image.
She wrote, in part:
I stopped for a second to see what she would say and when she turned to the mirror, she said, 'Wow I just love cheetah print! I think I look beautiful! Do you think I look beautiful too?!'
Her daughter was looking for the same affirmation that Brittney was trying to find. However, she has always taught her daughter that she's beautiful and should love herself no matter what. The contradiction? She wasn't offering herself that same self-love.
Brittney continued,
When it comes to manners, be an example.
When it comes to kindness, be an example.
And when it comes to body image, be an example. I am not a size zero. I never will be. I have big thighs and a huge rump and for some reason the middle of my body gets more tan than the rest? But this body made a whole other body. I am strong. I am able. And I am happy. I don't have to be beautiful like you, because I am beautiful like me. And as my daughter gets older, and she faces judgment and criticism, I will always remind her that the girls who look the prettiest in a two piece…
The post has received more than 320,000 likes and over 160,000 shares. Being body positive is challenging. Sometimes it feels like breaking free from shackles every single day.
Brittney's posts reminds us that we have to do better for ourselves and the future generation of women we're raising. We should all be mindful of the words we speak about ourselves and practice self-love from the place that matters most: the heart.
Image via Brittney Johnson/Facebook
