As young women, we are under an immense amount of pressure. We are supposed to look good, be smart and confident, fit in and somehow at the same time standout. Ever since I can remember I have been conscious of how beautiful girls on TV and in the magazines look. I remember being 10 years old and thinking, “Wow, the girls on Disney Channel don’t look anything like me.”
For years, I was insecure about my body. I would wish that I could switch out my rounder stomach for a flat one, that my arms could be smaller and that my thighs would stop jiggling. It wasn’t until age 18 that I made the conscious decision to stop highlighting what I hate about my body and instead focus on what I love about it. It was a long, hard road but it has shaped my character like nothing else. When in doubt always remember, your body is beautiful. You are beautiful simply because you are human.
1.Your body can do amazing things.Never forget how incredible your body is. It lets you run for miles, jump with excitement, stand in line waiting for your favorite Starbucks drink, or sit for hours watching Netflix. Your body can climb mountains or swim in the ocean. Your feet can walk in flats, and yet, are strong enough to let you run in heels.
2. Magazines aren’t real. I’m sure we’ve heard this time and again, but it’s the truth! In real life, the models you see don’t even look like the girls in the magazines. Recently, an unaltered photo of Cindy Crawford leaked from a photoshoot she did for Marie Claire in Mexico. Cindy looked pretty damn good without all those Photoshop edits!
3. The “perfect body” is a myth.The idea of the “perfect body” is always changing. A couple of weeks ago, Buzzfeed posted a video about the ideal body types throughout the ages. If the ideal body type is always changing, doesn’t that mean that there isn’t an ideal body type? Karlie Kloss and Beyoncé have two completely different body types but it would be hard to find someone to argue that they aren’t both beautiful women.
Meryl Streep said it best: “For young women, I would say, ‘don’t worry so much about your weight.’ Girls spend way too much time thinking about that, and there are better things. For young men, and women, too, what makes you different or weird, that’s your strength. Everyone tries to look a cookie-cutter kind of way, and actually the people who look different are the ones who get picked up. I used to hate my nose. Now, I don’t.” Like Meryl said, it’s your differences that give you strength.
Even though it’s February, I challenge you to make a New Year’s Resolution. Find one thing that you love about your body every day. There is so much life has to offer that doesn’t revolve around the way we look. What you may think is weird someone else may think is beautiful. Make 2015 the year you start to love your body; it may just be your best year yet.