Ladies, I know almost all of us can admit to this. We are scrolling through our Facebook timelines or our Instagram feed, and we come across a picture of a girl with an outfit or hairstyle that catches our eye. We click on her page and start scrolling through all of her photos wondering how she gets 556 likes on a selfie when you struggle to even get 50. We wonder how the hell she can have decently sized boobs, a perfectly flat stomach and a butt? Like, no, that's not even possible. Where did she get that outfit from and how does she manage to have 800 followers?
I am personally guilty of this. In fact, I just caught myself doing this a few minutes ago. In today's society, beauty is shown through thigh gaps, perky boobs, long blonde hair and perfectly blended makeup. When a normal woman, like myself, looks in the mirror and notices that I don't look like that, we start to judge ourselves so harshly we don't even notice the amount of damage we do to our self-esteem.
Looking at these beautiful women who are either gifted with the perfect body, or work their asses off to look the way they do, can be hard for us to handle. I work out on a daily basis, but I still never see myself as looking like one of those girls who get 1,000 likes on a picture of them in a bikini on the beach. I still find myself stalking other girls Instagram pages envying her life in every way that I can because in my mind I think "I wish that I looked like her."
But here's the thing: you don't have to look like her to be beautiful. You don't have to be a size 00 and have amazing long legs to feel sexy. Beauty comes in all different shapes, shades, and sizes. Who knows maybe that skinny girl next to you is thinking she wishes she had your curves to fill out an outfit they way you do, while you're sitting there thinking you could fit into her jeans.
We are our own worst critics. Just because someone's look looks perfect, doesn't necessarily mean that it is. Just because some girl spends her time traveling the world taking awesome pictures on the way, while you're stuck studying for school doesn't mean that you're not living your life to the fullest.
When I first started working out, I did it for the wrong reasons. I did it because I thought it would help make me look more like the girls you see on TV or in the magazines. But now, I exercise because I like the results and I like to feel healthy. It's okay to wear a size 6,8,10,12 etc. What's important is that you feel comfortable in your own skin.
Once I realized that I will never look like one of the Victoria Secret models (being that I'm 5'2"), I started enjoying life more. No girl is going to look like those models because that's not our job. Those girls look the way they do because they get paid to. It's their career. We shouldn't have these unrealistic expectations for our body image.
Self-confidence is such a beautiful thing that we can wear ladies. You're beautiful because you're you, never forget that.
