A lot of the time, I find myself on social media (particularly Instagram), scrolling through my feed. My feed consists of people I know from high school and college, but it also contains people I don't know on a personal level, like celebrities. As a scroll, I begin to get a little more discouraged. I see girls with great hair, great bodies and pretty faces. Instantly, I compare myself, and I never seem to think I measure up. But recently, I stopped comparing myself.
Of course, it's only natural from time to time to compare yourself to other people. But my mom taught me something a long time ago that stuck with me: "There are always going to be greater and lesser people than you."
I've learned that although I don't have a toned stomach and have put on a little bit of weight since last year, my body is still great. I thought that a "perfect" body was being super skinny, toned and tan. But the reality of it all is, any body is perfect as long as you accept it, appreciate it and take care of it.
There will always be people that are very physically fit to motivate me, but I've stopped caring as much about what other people will see my body and appearance as and started caring more about what I see my body and appearance as.
The truth of the matter is, anyone will have issues with themselves no matter what they look like. Someone could have a great body but still struggle with their appearance somehow. We are all our own worst enemy and we will always seem to have no problem picking out flaws in ourselves. But other people aren't doing it as much as we think, although we seem to convince ourselves otherwise.
There is only one me out there, and there's only one you. I am the only one who looks exactly how I look. The only one with my body and assets, and that's something to be proud about. However, looks aren't everything, either. Everyone's personality is different as well.
Everyone living has a unique set of genes and traits that add up to who they are, and that is something to feel good about. Sure, people will be better at things or maybe have a better physical or mental feature. And some people will wish they were as good at something as you or want to have a feature you possess. But they are not you, and you are not them.
It's time to stop comparing ourselves over every little thing. Be proud of who you are, what you look like and everything that makes you who you are.
There's no use in comparing your looks to someone else, although sometimes it's hard not to. You aren't them, but that's OK. You're you instead, and that's pretty awesome, too.
