This post may be somehow different from my usual posts, but I feel like it's a positive message I need to share!
Through my teenage years, I was never confident about my body. I used to look at some of my friends from middle school and think: 'Why are they so skinny? Why don't they have big thighs or large breasts like me? How come they can eat so many chocolate bars and stay thin as sticks?'
At the same time, I started receiving bad comments from guys and some girls in my class from a very young age. Some of them didn't mean to be mean, but others did. Now I believe they might have felt jealous of my good grades and constant joy; but, when I was eleven or twelve, I truly thought they were telling the truth. I saw them making lists of the hottest girls in class and putting me in last; I heard them laugh as I ran in PE class; I was called 'fat' even though the only difference there was between me and other girls was that my body started changing earlier.
I am, by nature, a joyful and smiley person, and I kept smiling and laughing to everyone, but deep down I was hurting. Whenever I had to eat at school, I would either settle for a little loaf of bread, or eat everything in sight; then I would come home and do crunches and sit-ups pretty much until I fell asleep.
And you know what? Nothing worked. My body image did not improve for a long, long time, until the middle of my high school years. Until I decided it was time to let go of those bad thoughts and embrace my figure.
Some days ago, I went to the beach with some friends. I looked around and saw many girls and guys with lots of different body types. Some are tall, some are short; some are thin, some are wider, some are curvy. And you know what? As long as you take care of your body, and as long as you're living in a healthy way,
Your body is perfect just the way it is. You should be proud, and not ashamed of it!
All bodies truly are great bodies. Those skinny jeans you couldn't wear at that shop in the mall can't tell you otherwise. That top that made you look like a child is wrong.
You can rock any look you like. You are entitled to treat your body as a temple, to feel pretty and elegant. Your body is YOUR body and not anyone else's. Isn't that great?
I know that not everyone shares this way of thinking. I know many minds are still conditioned by society standards, by Victoria's Secret models and Abercrombie and Fitch guys.
But I promise that there isn't anything wrong with your body.
One of my best friends once told me: as long as you eat and exercise in a balanced way, your body will be in its natural shape!
So please, just embrace yourself like I try to do. It's not easy, but it's made me so much happier!
love,
Mariana
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