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I’ve been feeling pretty good about myself lately, which is new for me. In all honesty, I tend to be a bit on the critical side at times about my looks, abilities, pictures, etc. And I’m working on that. But when it comes to hearing negative comments about my appearance from other people, I can’t lie…it makes me feel bad for longer than it should, and I wonder if what they are saying is true. I’ve never had an easy time just “letting it roll off my back.” Like today…

Someone was raving about my friend, how happy she looked, etc., then basically said I look  like an old married woman. Not those exact words, but pretty close. Am I wearing sweat pants and no makeup today? No. I have on a new, pretty white sweater with little pearl buttons by the collar, my hair is fixed, my MAC is on my eyes…I’m not saying I look model-esque, but I definitely don’t think I resemble anything close to the negative image I see when I think of an “old married woman.” I try to look nice every day for the office, and what she said – simply put — stung. Especially considering all the work I’ve been doing lately to lose weight.

I’ve had my share of negative comments in my life, and a lot of those came like rapid fire after I put on weight. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been asked if I was pregnant. I got some pretty serious “up and down” stares at my high school reunion in June (I was a size 3-5 when I graduated) and some girl said, “Man, do YOU look different,” while giving me the up and down stare. And of course, I’ve already talked about the horrible comments I received on a daily basis from “the Germ.” None too nice.

I’m not looking for sympathy, because I know just about everyone in the world has had something negative said about them, and it’s just a part of life. Move on, right? I just wish the people that feel the need to say something unkindly to someone would remember the old mantra, “If you don’t have anything nice to say…” Maybe we all (especially women) would have a lot less confidence issues if we just zipped the lip once in awhile!

Who knows…maybe I took the comment today completely different than what it was intended to mean. But whatever the case, as my mom reminds me all the time, “The best revenge is to live well.” And that’s exactly what I’m going to do. My rant is over. If you made it this far, thanks for reading.

How do you handle negative comments?