We spent an amazing day with my family yesterday. For the first time in years, we only had one Thanksgiving dinner to eat at one house - rather than the ususal two. Quality time. Quality conversations. Quality dinner.

But as the evening drew to a close and the men were off discussing politics, I realized the women in my family (self included) were sitting around discussing physical appearance. An odd conversation to have amidst the myriad leftovers and turkey carcasses. As some chimed in with complaints or criticisms of body parts ranging from (ubiquitous) thighs to (a variety of) facial features, it dawned on me that I had no desire to critique myself. It isn't that there aren't things I'd like to change, but as a gender we are so hard on ourselves and I didn't want to perpetuate that habit. And I discouraged my favorite women at the table from tearing themselves apart pore by pore as well. It's time we stopped to love ourselves.

Women have better things to do than compare ourselves to the lastest "it" girl or sexy lingerie ad. We are marvelous creatures with miraculous bodies. These bodies allow us to climb Mt. Everest, reproduce (hello!) and to travel the world if we so desire. How fabulous is that? Europeans marvel at the American desire to prevent death and aging. We resist it. We tell time to wait, we're not reaady to age yet. We prolong the inevitable. It is unique to our culture and it is the foundation of many a multi-billion dollar industry. (Don't believe it? Read this book.)

To combat this phenomenon, there are voices out there encouraging us to live life more happily and focus on the importance of a positive self image. Stephanie at Skinny Jeans is one of my favorite sources of self-loving wisdom. She gave me the giggle I needed today when I read her post about the eating habit of models:

"Over time, I realized that when a smug skinny says, "I eat whatever I want", what it really means is "I can eat whatever I want, and what I want is lettuce, coffee, and cigarettes because those things keep me skinny." No one can throw it down at the Hometown buffet, eat at McDonald's, or slurp at the spaghetti house, and stay a size 2. Unless of course, you exercise enormous amounts at the gym, are bulimic, or have the metabolism of Olive Oyl."

So if you are finding yourself being hard on yourself this season, stop. Stop and appreciate your curves, your fine lines, your jiggly bits. They are yours and make you uniquely you. And as any man will tell you, self confidence is the sexiest characteristic a woman can possess. And it doesn't cost a dime.