If you're reading this, chances are, you have some insecurities. If you're a woman, your insecurities are most likely with your body. If you think about all of the media we are constantly taking in throughout the day, it's no wonder we've all had body image issues at one point or another. I actually did a lot of research on the topic of the way social media affects our body image as women for a paper I wrote a few years ago, and it's probably affecting you more than you realize.
But that's not really what I'm here to talk about. What I want to stress to you this season, is that no one looks like the models you see on Instagram or on TV commercials. Even those models don't actually look like that because they're usually very retouched and smoothed to look as "perfect" as possible.
I'm sure if you're reading this, you're old enough to have realized that perfection doesn't exist. It just doesn't. We may try to strive for it, but trying to make yourself perfect or expecting yourself to be perfect at something you do isn't an obtainable goal. Perfection doesn't exist, even in inanimate things. I've said it once and I'll probably say it another thousand times; if we were all perfect, that would be so boring. Why would you want that anyway?
Now that Summer has officially started, I want to challenge you. I want you to wear that bikini that you don't think you can rock, and I want you to rock it. Wear that crop top that you want. Wear a tank top because it's hot and who cares if your arms are showing?
No one but you is going to notice your "flaws". No one. If they do, they suck and they're probably just pushing their own insecurities onto you anyways. Something to keep in mind this summer is that what other people think of you is none of your business and has no effect on your life at all, so don't let it get to you.
We're too young and life is too short to not wear a cute bathing suit you like because you feel like it doesn't fit your body right. With that being said, don't wear something that doesn't make you feel good or that you don't like. Keep in mind that confidence is attractive and beautiful and will draw people to you. You should never feel like what you're wearing makes you want to hide and not be seen.
When you're getting dressed tomorrow, dressed how you want to dress and in things that you feel happy and confident in. Then, when you go out into the world, remember that most likely, no one is judging you for the way they look. Everyone, especially as they get older, is too busy dealing with their own lives and insecurities to add yours to the list of things they need to spend their time worrying about.
You'll be happier if you're loving yourself for who you are now and not who you're one day hoping to be. It's great to want to change yourself for the better and become the best you that you can be, but it starts with the self-love that you have today.
