Have you ever admitted to a friend something you felt self-conscious about?

I was taught to only present my best self to others, to avoid judgement or criticism... but my experience has instead taught me that by presenting your most authentic self to others and being proud of who you are brings gifts you never imagined. We all need to know we are not alone or that someone 'gets' what we are going through and we can only experience this through sharing.

I have found more love and kinship (from being open about things) than criticism.

Take my friend Kate*
...there’s not a lot she doesn’t know about me. Yet it wasn’t until on holiday together, that I told her that my thighs rub.

Being a friend I felt ‘safe’ to share this with her… but she often spoke about fitness and yoga, so I risked the dreaded ‘just lose weight’ chat!

She was quiet for a second and then to my surprise, admitted that she had on occasion felt thigh friction on hot days. She then proceeded to brush it off as a weight thing and then quickly changed the subject.

Later that week, while laying on the beach, we challenged each other to do the hour long hike from the beach up the steep hill to the lookout.  After throwing on our beach dresses, we started the walk.

I was wearing my home made anti-chafing shorts and I told her I wear them with all my dresses, to prevent thigh chafing. 

(This was before I created the Miss Monroes brand. Initially I made these for myself only).

Half an hour into our walk up the hill, she was walking ahead of me and without turning around she said “You know, I could do with a pair of your shorts right about now”.

“Really?” I said.

“Yeah, I guess I just put up with the pain before and never thought there was a thing you could wear, but now I’m wishing I had a pair!”

This started a beautiful open conversation that brought us closer and inspired her to want to run body love classes. WOW!

Sharing something I felt self-conscious about, allowed her to feel accepted. She revealed to me long held body issues that held her back in life, now she felt empowered to talk about them and she encouraged me to make these shorts for other women.

Have you shared anything with a friend that has brought about positive changes for yourself or someone else?  Try it out…. share your experiences in the comments below. I’d love to hear your stories.

x Lisa
*name changed for privacy...