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"Earlier this week, I came across an amazing TED talk from supermodel Cameron Russell, who shares with us what it&amp;#039;s like to really be a model, and how winning the &amp;quot;genetic lottery&amp;quot; isn&amp;#039;t necessarily going to make you happy. One of her points really resounded with me. &amp;quot;I&amp;#039;m insecure because I have to think about what I look like every day. And if you ever are wondering, &amp;quot;If I have thinner thighs and shinier hair, will I be happier?&amp;quot; you just need to meet a group of models, because they have the thinnest thighs and the shiniest hair and the coolest clothes, and they&amp;#039;re the most physically insecure women probably on the planet.&amp;quot; I think about this especially right now because I&amp;#039;m slowly getting back into shape. And by shape, of course, I mean thinner. Healthier, of course, but more toned and thinner and feeling like I&amp;#039;m looking more and more like my formerly hot twenty-something self. And I assure you, twenty-something Ellie was a force to be reckoned with. I was an actress and a dancer back then, and I was conscious of every single move my body made, every head that turned my way, every eye that shifted in my direction. I weighed 102 lbs and I was as self-conscous and insecure as I am today. And of course, I&amp;#039;m not twenty-something anymore and I&amp;#039;m not barely a hundred pounds, either. Can&amp;#039;t do anything about the former, working on the latter, but the urge to see those heads turn, to feel like I&amp;#039;m a worthy human being just because somebody finds me attractive enough for their standards - it&amp;#039;s still there. Still pervasive. Still making me feel &amp;quot;less than&amp;quot; sometimes. As a mother of a very pretty daughter, I look at her and know she won that genetic lottery. But I also know I don&amp;#039;t want her feeling &amp;quot;less than&amp;quot; just because she&amp;#039;s makeup free and wearing sweatpants today. I want her to be judged for who she is and all she&amp;#039;s done, not for those cheekbones or that long, shiny hair. Most of all I want her not to feel judged by herself, because she&amp;#039;s the one whose opinion matters most. I try to reaffirm all this as much as possible, but she&amp;#039;s being hit from all sides with countermessages.  What sort of things do you do to reinforce to yourself (and your daughters, if you have one) that you&amp;#039;re so much more than the sum of your parts? I&amp;#039;d love to hear your perspectives. [Follow Ellie&amp;#039;s adventures at SingleMomtism.com or on Facebook and Twitter] "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/relationships/dating-marriage/a48999/so-i-dont-look-like-a-supermodel/>