Body Positivity

“If only our eyes saw souls instead of bodies, how very different our ideals of beauty would be.”

~ Anonymous

“I wish I had a body like her….” “I wish my arms were like his…..”

There are so many things you look at in people that you wish you had. Every time you look into the mirror your eyes dart around to find something in your body that you dislike which makes you consider that you’re flawed or simply not perfect.

 But what is “perfect”? Why does society’s norms of having a tall slender body or having a body shaped like an hourglass be deemed by people as the ideal body?  For years, girls all over the world have strived every single day to get a body shape accepted by society as “normal”. They followed a strict diet regime and restricted themselves from eating whatever their heart desires and their body requires. Many people have developed eating disorders or Bulimia because of the concern they had towards their weight.

As kids, we weren’t perturbed about our bodies much because we didn’t even know a category of bodies existed. But as we become teenagers, puberty kicks in and turns our life around. As teens, we start to compare. We start noticing the differences in the bodies of the people around us and the bodies of ourselves because our society has normalized a certain body type to be perfect. We tend to idolize and appreciate their bodies more than we appreciate ours. Growing up, pop culture has asserted a definition of what perfect is and we followed it without a doubt in our minds. Social media also has a hand in altering our perspective of bodies in general, which sometimes might also lead to hating our bodies.

This whole notion about the “perfect body” has been etched into our society, but not entirely. A few women and men have found their way through the gaps and have come out in protest against the need of having this perfect body. This was when the “Body Positivity” movement took form. Body Positivity is often misinterpreted as normalizing obesity and curves and shaming skinny or thin bodies, which isn’t true. Body Positivity in simple terms is loving your body for what it is. Dislike towards one’s body isn’t just dislike, it takes a toll on our self -confidence, self-worth and so much more. Having a healthy body image is essential not just for our bodies but also for our mental health.

Acceptance is the biggest form of self-confidence you could buy. Once you accept the body that you’re in, everything falls into place. All those days when you made decisions because of your weight might seem non-sensical now because your weight will never define who you are. Love all of that cellulite in your body, or all those bones that stick out of your body because they are a part of who you are. They make you a whole. 

Perfection lies in imperfection. All of us are far from perfect and that is perfectly fine. We are so much more than our physical appearance, we are more than our bodies. There still might be days when you just feel like grabbing a shovel, digging a pit and falling into it as deep as the fall might take you because the sight of yourself in the mirror or merely looking down at your body might scream in big bold red letters “NOT ENOUGH”. But once you have your moment of self-acceptance, you will realize that all of that dislike towards your body is just momentary and shall pass.

So maybe as a change this New Year, instead of having the resolution to lose weight and attain an hourglass body, try and resolve to accept your body for what it is. Because you’re beautiful no matter what people say or the scales show you.