“No guy would ever date a girl with thighs as huge as mine.” I realize the ridiculousness of this statement when I see it written down, but I’m guilty of this and many other equally preposterous thoughts. I bet I’m not the only one. Some days, I’m convinced I have some specific flaw that is repelling all guys. Even though my logical side knows it’s not true, emotionally, it’s hard to convince myself otherwise. To gain some perspective, I took an objective look at this reoccurring thought. I split it into two hypotheses to investigate:

1. My thighs are bigger than anyone else’s.
2. Women with large thighs are not in relationships.

I found a busy place to sit and observe people walking by. After half an hour, I noted the following:

1. Many (at least one third) of the women who walked by had thighs that were larger than mine.
2. Several of the larger-thighed women were holding hands with a male and smiling, suggesting that they were in a happy relationship.

After this experiment, I reached the following conclusions:

1. I do not have the biggest thighs in the world.
2. Large thighs do not prevent women from being in relationships.

This silly exercise was surprisingly helpful. When these self-deprecating thoughts come into my head, I can more easily give my thoughts a reality check. If you have any other methods for countering your critical inner voice, feel free to share in the comments.