To the person that can't stop body shaming themselves:
It gets better. I know, I know, you always hear that from everyone. Things like, "You'll grow into it" or "Eat healthier, and you'll see those results you want!" but never anything to actually validate what you feel. No one can see what you see. Where you see lumps, someone else sees well rounded and healthy.
Body shaming comes in all different forms; from the Internet, like the Dani Mathers scandal (if you don't know what that is, look up the #unseethis hashtag on google), to friends making snide comments under their breath, to you, yes you, reading this article.
I can say that I was one of those girls who body shamed herself for years. And I do still have those thoughts that come into my head every once in a while. Sometimes I catch a glimpse of myself in a changing room mirror at the store and think "yuck!" But then I remember that no one really looks good under the glare of those fluorescent lights. But sometimes that doesn't really help, when all you can see are those insecurities, wondering who let you out of the house looking like that. And some days all you feel like is this:
It gets better. It is hard, it does suck, but like I said, it gets better. The negative self-talk ebbs and flows; some days being worse than others. But getting through it is what makes you strong. It's what makes you think a little harder, laugh a little louder and stand a little taller. Being okay with your insecurities is what makes you desirable, makes you more appealing, because you don't care what they think. And because of that, they want to impress you that much more.
So maybe today isn't that day. Maybe you can't see that your imperfections, by definition, make you perfect, but I do. And I will stand by you until the day that you can see it too, and continue standing by your side to remind you of your perfections when the air around you becomes too muggy with negativity to see it. Girl, boy, whatever you identify as, you are beautiful. Please see it, too.
