So, you all know how much I love Influenster and the free products I receive from them all the time. Sometimes they join major brands to help spread a message. They have teamed up with Reebok's current campaign called “Never Perfect”. Gigi Hadid is the face of the campaign, and they are encouraging women to redefine perfection and embrace your flaws. I love the symbolism of this movement.

 

At first, it seems a little hypocritical, because the person they have picked as the face of their campaign is a model and her whole image and career is based on perfection. But, that's the point, that's why they chose her. Gigi is a human being just like the rest of us. She has her own flaws and struggles, but is still expected to be perfect to the world, every day - all the time. This opportunity was a way for her to embrace her imperfections and be herself. I personally cannot imagine (and would not want to deal with) the kind of pressure that someone in the spotlight is constantly under. We all know how the media (and everyone else who thinks their opinion matters) criticizes someone in the public eye when they do even the tiniest thing wrong.

 

This whole campaign is about NOT being too hard on yourself and always striving for perfection in order to feel “good enough”. You're worth is NOT in your accomplishments (Ephesians 2:4-9). In fact, you’d probably do better at whatever it is, if you didn't put so much stress and pressure on yourself. Just take a step back and look at where your strengths and weaknesses are to better improve whatever it is you're working on.

 

Here is the really long clip of Reebok's introduction to the Perfect Never campaign w various spokeswomen & celebrities.

 

Back to Influenster… they shipped out a box with workout apparel to help get this message across to normal every day women like you and me (that's how I heard about it). Sadly, I did not receive one of these boxes (I wish I had because I work out ALL the time, and it would be an awesome opportunity, but oh well). I do think the message is important enough to share on my own, without getting any incentive product. Plus, I already own Reebok, so it was easy enough to share and encourage their brand.

 

As women, we can find ourselves constantly comparing others and ourselves to what WE think a woman should be or what the world's standard tell us we should be. I love that Reebok is taking a stand against this and encouraging women to embrace where YOU are right now, and strive to be better for YOU. The goal is to NOT compare yourself to a standard, what another has accomplished and most importantly, not beat yourself up if you're not perfect. Because nobody's perfect - everybody has insecurities. Everyone has come from somewhere to get to where they are now. Don't compare yourself to someone else's success at this moment, because you don't know how many failures they had to go through to get there and everyone is one their own path (Galatians 6:4-6). Embrace where you are now and extend the love to others. Let's lift each other up instead of tearing one another down (Mark 12:31).

 

This is the exact reason I decided to start blogging. I would go on Instagram and see all these gorgeous girls with beautiful faces, perfect hair, designer clothes, artistic pictures and their lives just looked so out of reach and unrealistic. And I didn't want people to think that that's all there was out there. I know that Instagram is a platform for beautiful things and it's just a snapshot image, so it's not supposed to be the whole picture of what someone's life is like, but it's also extremely misleading. It's creating this horrible comparison culture in our lives and the lives of our children. I just wanted to create a place for women to see a real life with real experiences, real flaws, realistic fashion (for a busy mom) and real travel destinations (not going to Bali anytime soon).

 

These pictures are of me post (and during) workout. My car battery died this morning, so I was an hour late getting to the gym (and messing up Silas’ nap time in the process). Thankfully we were able to get a new battery and install it right away so I could still get my work out, but at that point my whole day was thrown off and I was not a happy mama. I started a new workout plan that my friend had given me and was killing it on legs. I mean it, my glutes and calves were on fire. But I kept pushing through it, because I knew the benefits far outweighed the uncomfortable and hard moments. I have come to realize that no matter what kind of workout I do, I get stronger after each one. And I don't want to miss even one because that's an opportunity for strength I’m missing out on. So, I just want to encourage you, in whatever you're doing - to keep persevering (Hebrews 12:1) and to be proud of where you've come from, where you're at now, and where you're headed!

 

fleece (Reebok) // tank (Old Navy) // leggings (Marshall's) // bra (Kiava Clothing) // sneaks (TJ Maxx)

 

I hope y'all have enjoyed my extremely long post, but I feel it needed to be said. As women, we need to stand together and stop criticizing ourselves and each other. WE need to be the change! Leave me some comments, I'd love to hear from you about your successes and struggles! We're all the same here, you're in a safe place- no judgements! Embrace the #NeverPerfect campaign and #BeMoreHuman  <3 Amanda