To the girl who thinks she still isn’t in shape for spring break,
Spring break is the one week each year when you are truly able to let loose as a college student and take a break from school. You can let go of your stresses and worries, forget about everything, and enjoy a week on the beach, the slopes, or even in your bed.
Now, is spring break all about being able to fit in a bikini? No. So why does everybody feel the need to have the “perfect beach bod” to head to the beach? Why does our society care so much about how we look on vacation instead of how we feel and what we experience on vacation?
Just think about it—you have probably been saving up money and thinking about this trip with your friends for the past year. So why are you letting body shaming get in the way of you having a fantastic trip with your best friends? NOBODY is going to care what you look like. Your friends will still love you if you are pale and blend into the sand, if you have stretch marks, and even if you’ve gained a few pounds over the school year. NONE of that matters and it’s time that you begin to love yourself, too. Believe it or not, I am confident that all of your friends are feeling the same way as you are. You know full well that you wouldn’t be judging how your friends look, so why are you shaming yourself as if your friends are judging you?
Yes, it’s important to have a healthy lifestyle, with healthy diet choices and exercise. But this doesn’t mean that you need to stress yourself out over how you look in a swimsuit. Nothing about that is fun and vacations are supposed to be all fun. They are all about spending time with people you love, not about who looks the best lying in the sun. Once everybody gets to the beach and starts talking, swimming, and partying, nobody will even be thinking about how you look.
Quit focusing on how you “don’t look good enough for spring break”. Concentrate on having fun! No rulebook says you need to look good to have a bomb ass time. The memories that you make on this trip will forever stay with you and your friends. How your body looks is not going to matter.
We are growing up in a world where people are always telling us how we should and shouldn’t look. We are told what we should be doing to get this “perfect body”. That is so damn stupid. Society’s expectations shouldn’t hold any power over you and tell you how to feel. Society doesn’t get to tell you how to look and it for sure doesn’t get to stop you from having fun with your best friends on spring break!
Also, stop comparing yourself to others and asking yourself questions like, “why don’t I look like her?” The answer is, you’ll never look like anyone else because you’re not someone else. You’re you. It is about time that you start to love yourself for you. You have to spend the rest of your life with yourself, so appreciate how awesome you are and live your life the way you want! Be yourself and be happy. You are beautiful just the way you are.
Love,
A girl who didn’t think she was in shape for spring break either