You know what absolutely sucks? Being a young adult, forced into the real world where you no longer have the luxury of jumping on a plane to a warm destination for a week of nothing but boozing and beaching with your best friends; It sucks because 1. now you can't even remotely afford it financially and 2. Because you can't even remotely afford it work-wise.
Life's a real toe-stubber sometimes, I tell ya.
As much fun as I had scrolling through social media, living vicariously through all my friends still lucky enough to partake in spring break antics, I can assure you it would have been a little more enjoyable had I been on the other end of the screen. Alas- the 9-5 wins again.
I spent a lot of time scrolling and wishing last week. Wishing I was splashing in an ocean. Wishing I had a cool drink in my hand. Wishing for warm weather- but worst of all I found myself "wishing" for the bodies I saw in the photos. I would stare in awe at these tiny little bodies, finding myself zooming in- looking for any kind of flaw or evidence of Photoshop; desperately searching for something that would validate my thought that no one can actually look like that.
Then it hit me. I have no control over what the people in the photos look like, or what they do to look like that. It seems so obvious, of course, but it's something that not a lot of us take the time to realize. You can sit there all day and wish and wish for that body on instagram, but you know what? You might not have the same metabolism, or work out regiment, or genetic make up. You know what else? Half the time it's angles, and lighting, and filters, and they don't even look like that!
But here's the main point- why do we, as a female society- constantly try to compare and contrast to what the rest of society has told us is "beautiful" or "acceptable"? I call BS on beauty standards of any form. Why? Because not only are they extremely narrow and uninviting to all races or genders, they are UNOBTAINABLE. You can't tell a girl she'd look better with longer legs, or narrower shoulders- how do you possibly expect a body structure to change? You can't compare Serena Williams to Giselle. You can't compare Hillary Clinton to Ke$ha. What's the bottom line here? You can't compare women. You can not pit women against other women by their looks or their body types. To compare a woman to an unrealistic, unobtainable "standard" of beauty is blasphemy. We, as women, need to stand up for one another. There are too many people trying to divide us already.
It's crazy to me how it took me 24 years to conclude this- but I promise you it has changed my outlook completely. Instead of being bitter of someone's beauty, or envious of their body- I have worked extremely hard to be where I am today- Happy with who I am. I work out, I eat (decently) healthy, and I enjoy my life. I look less at the bodies in envy, and more at the women behind the bodies and who they are as human beings and what awesome energy they bring to the world. I have gained such a perspective on beauty and health and what it means to the individual rather than what it means to society. To me- I am my happiest, and healthiest, when I take the time to care for my body. I look forward to my daily work outs, and long walks with the pup-dog. But I'm also not going to say no to drinks with friends, or that ice cream shop down the corner.
With that- take a moment to appreciate all that your body does for you. You have no idea if the grass is greener on the other side.
Life's a real toe-stubber sometimes, I tell ya.
As much fun as I had scrolling through social media, living vicariously through all my friends still lucky enough to partake in spring break antics, I can assure you it would have been a little more enjoyable had I been on the other end of the screen. Alas- the 9-5 wins again.
I spent a lot of time scrolling and wishing last week. Wishing I was splashing in an ocean. Wishing I had a cool drink in my hand. Wishing for warm weather- but worst of all I found myself "wishing" for the bodies I saw in the photos. I would stare in awe at these tiny little bodies, finding myself zooming in- looking for any kind of flaw or evidence of Photoshop; desperately searching for something that would validate my thought that no one can actually look like that.
Then it hit me. I have no control over what the people in the photos look like, or what they do to look like that. It seems so obvious, of course, but it's something that not a lot of us take the time to realize. You can sit there all day and wish and wish for that body on instagram, but you know what? You might not have the same metabolism, or work out regiment, or genetic make up. You know what else? Half the time it's angles, and lighting, and filters, and they don't even look like that!
But here's the main point- why do we, as a female society- constantly try to compare and contrast to what the rest of society has told us is "beautiful" or "acceptable"? I call BS on beauty standards of any form. Why? Because not only are they extremely narrow and uninviting to all races or genders, they are UNOBTAINABLE. You can't tell a girl she'd look better with longer legs, or narrower shoulders- how do you possibly expect a body structure to change? You can't compare Serena Williams to Giselle. You can't compare Hillary Clinton to Ke$ha. What's the bottom line here? You can't compare women. You can not pit women against other women by their looks or their body types. To compare a woman to an unrealistic, unobtainable "standard" of beauty is blasphemy. We, as women, need to stand up for one another. There are too many people trying to divide us already.
It's crazy to me how it took me 24 years to conclude this- but I promise you it has changed my outlook completely. Instead of being bitter of someone's beauty, or envious of their body- I have worked extremely hard to be where I am today- Happy with who I am. I work out, I eat (decently) healthy, and I enjoy my life. I look less at the bodies in envy, and more at the women behind the bodies and who they are as human beings and what awesome energy they bring to the world. I have gained such a perspective on beauty and health and what it means to the individual rather than what it means to society. To me- I am my happiest, and healthiest, when I take the time to care for my body. I look forward to my daily work outs, and long walks with the pup-dog. But I'm also not going to say no to drinks with friends, or that ice cream shop down the corner.
With that- take a moment to appreciate all that your body does for you. You have no idea if the grass is greener on the other side.
Comments
Post a Comment