We’ve all been there: you spend hours in front of the mirror, doing your hair, pulling a face while applying the third layer of mascara and picking the perfect outfit which holds in your tummy while accentuating your (insert best body part here).
You’re feeling good. You’re even (whisper it) feeling sexy. Your other half / best friend/overly enthusiastic taxi driver compliments you on exactly how fine you look. You strut through the door to the party, breathily order a drink. You may even wink at the barman as he pours.
Then suddenly, the door opens. Winter's chill rips through it, in the wake of the leggiest, sexiest, most breathtakingly gorgeous goddess who ever graced this universe.
You take your drink quietly and scuttle away from the bar looking for a friendly face. You become aware of the enormous ladder running the whole length of your tights. While you're looking down realising this, you notice that your overly flamboyant heels do absolutely nothing for the size of your ankles.
Scurrying off to the bathroom, you encounter Aphrodite who manages to flash you her brilliant smile while (probably) eyeing up the ladder in your tights. For the smallest of seconds you loathe her and wish the thousand flames of hell would turn her and her Mulberry handbag into beef jerky.
Of course, you don't loathe her. You loathe yourself and the perceived chasm you see opening up between this goddess and yourself.
Some of you will not understand. Some may not be the Aphrodite-type but have certainly never felt cowed by one. The reason is pretty simple: you have a good, solid sense of self-worth. You can breezily say, ‘because I’m worth it’ and mean it.
Some of us on the other hand can only say it on good days – on wine days or when the moon is aligned with Saturn and our skin is smoother than a baby’s behind. Then we know we're fabulous.
But how should we harness a healthier dose of self-worth all the time?
The difference is not physical. It’s knowing – beyond a shadow of a doubt – that despite any stray leg hair, slightly-ill-fitting blouse or wayward strand of hair you're pretty special.
Some people will always be more special, or special in a different way. But go out and own 2015 because we’re all worth it.
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