MVM or The Greatest Purchase and What is Happening to Us?

I haven't told you about the most important part of my Saturday morning, yet, because I thought I'd let you in today, in my "Minor Victory Monday" post:

I am now the proud owner of the greatest winter wonder coat! It's been quite the quest, but it is finally over and it ended with a happily ever after - trust me, this jacket will last at least nine years. (I had my previous one for eight.)

This is a picture I meant to post in this post, but now that I looked for it, I realized that I must have forgotten to put it on there.

Anyways, it is me in the coat I ended up buying. Well, it is the same model, but one size smaller. I like to have a bit more room in winter jackets. Otherwise, when wearing a thick sweatshirt underneath, I feel like I'm being suffocated by my clothing. We don't like that. 

Now, in order for us to be friends, you need to tell me that this is the most wonderful coat you have ever seen. Thank you!

Spending so many hours at different stores over the past three months, I have also spent plenty of hours checking the mirror and seeing other people do the same thing. It's ridiculous how self conscious one can get. Especially when buying clothing. If you are a little bit like me, there are days when you leave the store thinking "I have the weirdest body shape in the entire world", "at home, I look am much slimmer", "tonight, I will skip dinner", "from now on, I will only buy shoes and purses"(Jeans shopping, I am looking at you) ... 

I'm no stranger to beating myself up over how I look and it's stupid. I know it's stupid - and if you do the same thing, I hope you know it's stupid, too. 

As chance would have it, this article and video made it's way around the internet these days. 

Please watch and read it - and think about it for a second. 

Source

What are we doing to ourselves? Who ever decided that beauty is not good enough anymore? No wonder there are people like me who spend way too much time of their lives comparing and beating themselves up - and we need to stop it. As long as you are healthy and content, nothing else matters. 

I am well aware that people "know" that this is going on - that faces, bodies are enhanced before being printed on posters or in magazines. None of this is news. However, I think we need to remind ourselves every once in a while and maybe be aware to what extend this is happening - and, if we are judging and comparing, we can remind ourselves that there is a great chance we are comparing ourselves to something that is not real in any shape or form, something that was created with a computer program. 

... and if the pants at the store don't fit you, then they are not your pants. They were made for someone else, someone, who has a different shape, because that's what we are. We are all different and we are supposed to be like that - and it should be this easy. 

Have you had a good day so far?

Do you love shopping or hate it? It depends on what I'm shopping for. Groceries are less fun than other things...