I bet that headline got your attention. It's swimsuit season and everyone wants to look their best. For a lot of people, wanting to look good for the summer isn't about trying to be as healthy as possible or the most confident version of yourself. Instead, it's about hating our flaws and seeking approval based on unrealistic beauty standards.
If I was only thinner. If only I had curves like her. If only I had muscles like him. My hair is too frizzy. What if my swimsuit shows my stretch marks? I'm too pale. I'm too dark. I hate my freckles. I wish I got freckles in the sun. Does this sundress make me look fat?
We all look in the mirror and find things we hate. So we google how to look good this summer, easy ways to get a beach body, and how to look good in a swimsuit. We wear makeup to the beach, swim shorts to cover stretch marks, we work out not with health in mind but to look good for the approval of others.
Notice I say we, that's because I have struggled with insecurity for a long time and summer can be hard for me. Not this year. This year I want all of us to stop hiding our "flaws" and to embrace ourselves. Want your best bikini body? Ok then put on a bikini. Done. Want to be the best you this summer? Then stop judging yourself and go live. Swim. Hike. Laugh. Buy that shirt that people say is only for skinny girls. Or the dress that they say you can only wear if you have curves. Be healthy, but don't hold yourself to ridiculously strict diets. Eat that hamburger at the family cookout. Stop hiding from the camera because you don't like what you see in photos.
No one is judging you because your hair frizzes in humidity, or because you have love handles or tummy rolls, or because you are naturally lean. So stop judging yourself. This summer I challenge you and I'm challenging myself, to be the best summer version of ourselves by loving ourselves this summer.
