A beauty snob...what does this make you think of? Someone who only buys the best skin creams? Maybe it's the girl on the corner that gives you a weird look when your shoes don't match your handbag?

Nope. I'm talking about the person that judges the obvious boob-job, the body-shaper peeking out from under a nice dress, or the girl that wears a little too much make-up because she's trying to mimic the smoky eye she saw in Cosmo. Those of us who are working hard to accept who and what we are, might find ourselves judging those who seem to have fallen into the trap set by the media a little too harshly. I recently had a conversation with a friend that went something like this.

"Did you see the size of that ring on her finger?"

"No, but I did see those huge boobs. She's obviously had work done."

I didn't really give it much thought at the time, but after considering the spirit behind the comment of "having working done"; I realized that in the journey to loving myself, I'm becoming a bit too hard on others. Over the last few weeks I've put more effort into consciously paying attention to my thoughts when I see someone who seems not quite comfortable in their own skin, and I'm not really happy with some of my automatic responses.

"She's trying too hard."

"Too much make-up."

"You definitely had Botox. That's so stupid."

As someone who wants to live a life of example, I absolutely cannot allow myself to be judgmental of these lovely women who are in a different place. With all of the outside influences telling me how I'm supposed to look, I realize that it's a battle that I'm fighting all the time to keep myself in the right frame of mind. But I also have to think back to when I was fighting the battle of trying to fit in. That fight was much more exhausting and mentally and spiritually taxing. I love myself much more when I feel love and understanding towards others. In the fight to becoming who we want to be, we must not forget where we came from.