It’s true that when it comes to body image, most people are guilty of critiquing their bodies- or they would probably be lying. For our whole lives our perception on our body changes as we grow, have families and age. And so do our opinions of it.
Do you remember the first time that you realized that you wanted to look different or found something you didn’t like about yourself? Sadly, especially for women from my experience, that age is often in elementary school. I used to wish I had skinny legs. But then you sometimes forget that the same girl with the skinny legs wishes she was shorter and hates how lanky she feels with her skinny legs. One saying rings true: it really is always greener on the other side. But no matter what you like or dislike, or how much age has changed you, one thing that remains important is how you try to love your body. Always trying is important. That is because your body is the only one you get to live in, so you might as well be happy. Loving your body is hard to do, but when you are able to love it, you can enjoy loving the rest of your life with much more ease and a sense of sanity. None of us look like the girl on the cover of the magazine, not even the girl in the magazine, so it is time to start a personal body revolution, to rebel against your own mind and to just start loving yourself.
Don’t let me deceive you, this isn’t some easy task you can check off your to-do list. Loving your body is a process, which will be a part of your whole life, and you may have had a lifelong battle with it.
But, that’s where summer comes in. It is important to love your body at every season and every day of the week, with time, self-encouragement and love. But something about loving your body in the summer time brings a whole new level to the challenge than any other point in our lives. We can sometimes trick ourselves in loving it or not paying as much attention to it in the winter because we cover up to stay warm. And in the fall and spring seasons, cute layered outfits help to hide our insecurities better than our own minds can.
But something about summer always poses its own fears when there’s nowhere else to hide. Maybe it’s the fact that the sun is literally always out, shining down on your body making it more exposed then it already feels. The sweaty parts inevitably come out, like the the acne and/or the stretch marks, which are all harder to hide behind concealer and shorts the way they otherwise would be. But don’t you want to love your body all of the time? To love it wholeheartedly the way you love your grandma or the way you love chocolate cake? Don’t you want it to make you feel warm, proud and comfortable all at once? Loving your body is possible. You just have to take the hard work in finding ways to love it even when you can’t hide behind clothes or layers anymore during the summer months. As bathing suits and arms and legs are seen by the world, it becomes hard not to fret. We worry how a swimsuit could make or break our day, yet it often does.
But I am here to say, if you can conquer the challenge of loving your body in the harshest moments like summer, you are well on your way to long-term love. To work on loving your body at any point, and especially in the summer, you need to take a look at yourself. Below is a list of helpful ways to love your body, especially in these summer months, so you can go on loving your body all year, and life long.
1. To love your body, it is important to find something you like about it, and keep that list growing. Take time daily to accomplish this and find things every day. Don’t worry if you’re being vein because you’re not. If you are going to live in your body you might as well love it, remember that.
2. Never compare yourself to other people. Easier said than done, but you can only be you. No matter how hard you try to be something else, it won’t happen. So, try to accept yourself. The best way to do this is to ask yourself, if you were comparing yourself to them out loud, how would it make them feel to be picked at the way you are in order to size yourself up? You wouldn’t like that, so try to work on not doing it to others too. Another great way to avoid comparison is to remember the body you literally live in. As it has changed over the years, there are some factors that can never be changed. For instance, maybe you’ve always had a long torso, and you feel unbalanced when comparing to other girls. That torso is never going to change, so work to accept it. Let go of the invisible belief that with enough comparisons you can look differently.
3. Remember what you enjoy about summer and focus on it. If you like swimming, don’t worry about what you look like and focus on getting to be in the water. If you move your attention to things you enjoy, you can stay in them and those experiences, and not focus on the parts of your body you don’t like.
4. Remember that for as many “I feel fat” days there can be just as many “I feel beautiful” days. Remember the moments you truly did feel beautiful and try to recreate it as much as possible, whether it was accomplishing a goal at school or a certain outfit that is flattering. Bring that beauty onto yourself because it will sure to make summer shine even brighter.
5. If you fear how the heat of summer is exposing you, try to navigate the obstacles. Wear sunscreen and wash your face to help your skin. Work out regularly to stay healthy and deal with being active in the summer. Wear sundresses for the weather, as you are battling your insecurities as well as battling the heat.
Remember that for all of the work you do to love yourself, it is a life-long journey, so be forgiving and don’t forget to never stop trying. Summer can be a great time for adventure and fun, so don’t let your body stop you from living. Learn to love yourself, because you only have one life and one body to live in it. No matter the season, there’s always a reason to love your body, because it is yours.