Many days in college rely on staying positive through tough situations and continuing to look on the bright side of all situations, no matter how impossible they may seem to overcome. An important aspect of continuing to stay positive is to have body positivity and self-love for yourself. This is often a concept that many people struggle with, especially in college, and have no idea how to regain this important aspect of their lives.

Students often deal with the pressures of attempting to have the “perfect body”, by trying to eat healthily and exercise. Personally, I made a change this semester to work out more and eat healthier, which I have accomplished by working out 3-4 times a week, eating out less, and juggling all of this while working 2 jobs and attending school full time. It was extremely difficult to even get near this point of gaining confidence in my body. I would become negative when I didn’t see weight loss or an improvement in strength and conditioning and began pushing myself harder at the gym or going early even if I was only running on 5 hours of sleep. I realized this wasn’t what I should be doing and that I was trying too hard to impress others with what they thought my “ideal” body shape should be.

I would worry about what others would think if I was eating fast food and not a salad and simply caring too much about what others would think about me. I realized that I was trying to change to impress those around me and that I wasn’t doing it truly to make myself happy. Realizing this for myself struck a chord where I began to realize many of my friends and even people I barely knew were struggling with this daily to overcome the battle of self-hate to obtain one full of self-love. Personally, I still know the battle is daily, I have bad days, but I also have amazing days, especially with the help of the friends that I have been blessed with since coming to college.

At this point, I have realized that loving yourself and what you do with your life is the most important quality to obtain. I've realized that I don't care if I have an extra cookie at lunch, or have fast food once in a while because obsessing over it isn't a healthy relationship to have with yourself. I think self-love is a daily battle for many, but progress is made daily with this battle. By rocking that outfit that you've been too scared to wear, or complementing someone else to help them build up their confidence are all amazing ways to improve self-love and is something that the world needs more of. So go out there and wear that outfit that you will look absolutely fantastic in and help others build up their self-confidence as well because life is too short to be filled with any type of hate, especially that of yourself.