Day 44: Image vs. Issue

     Beige patterned shirt, black shorts, TOMS, headband.

     There is one conversation that comes up AT LEAST once a day for each girl group at Monte Vista. Where there are girls, this topic WILL be discussed.

     Weight.

     Weight is something that girls worry about over a lot of things, simply because its what everyone around us is concerned with.  They either talk about losing weight, gaining weight, diets to lose an excessive amount of weight, complaining about how they've gained too much weight, etc.  All they are doing is subconsciously fishing for compliments.  It isn't their fault.

      BUT, the funny thing is, most of the girls that talk about this popular issue are the ones who have the bodies that girls with actual fat on themselves wish that they could have. Girls that literally have no body weight on them are grabbing their stomachs comparing how much flab they have to each other. 

      Newsflash: That isn't flab, that's skin. Its what keeps your organs from falling out of your insides.

      I love my body.  Ill be the first to admit that sure, I could lose a couple pounds, and sure, I cant wear tube tops, and sure, I failed the Body Mass Index test while my best friends were in the "at risk of being UNDERweight" category... But that's okay.  I don't really care. I'm being serious, too.  Take it or leave it.

      BUT, I do get hurt feelings when this topic of weight comes up, because for me and many other girls, its an issue of HEALTH, not just IMAGE.  I know that I cant be the only one who is really uncomfortable when this is brought up.  I sit and listen to the conversation, but I don't participate, because I'm not about to complain about my body in front of a crowd.

      I used to get hurt feelings and silently compare myself to the slim girls, but it just made me feel worse.  So I stopped.

      Body image is A LOT in high school, and it stems from a deep place of self-consciencness.  If you're guilty of this topic, look in the mirror and just see how beautiful you are. You don't need the consent of others to feel good about yourself.  So stop talking about it, you'll feel so much better that the issue of your weight is something that is within yourself, not everyone around you.  Feel better about your body by just accepting the way you look, because that's the way you were supposed to be made.

      As Susan always says, "We all come in different shapes and sizes.  Free to be you and me."