In the previous post I talked about how I might be a “work in progress” but still, “I love me.” In this post, let’s talk about how I came to appreciate who I am and what I am and why I’m OK with not being perfect, and that’s perfect to me!
I was this super skinny girl, both literally and figuratively, throughout my preteen years right until I got married. I started putting on weight only after I got married and during my pregnancy, I put on some 20 kilos. And although all the baby weight I had gained went away the way it came, the stubborn abdominal fat stayed behind and refuses to go away. So if you ask me what shape I am now, I’m clueless myself. Because I used to be a perfect size M but now I’m somewhere between a size M and L as M feels a bit smaller while L is too large.
Body image is a mental representation that we create for our body compared to the standards set by the society, disregard of how others perceive us. Body image, whether positive or negative can play a vital role in a person’s mental and physical well-being. And depending on the type of body image a person has for oneself, it can either conjure feelings of security, love, and value (positive body image) or inflict feelings of shame and self-pity (negative body image).
I was once a typical case of a person with a sense of negative body image. During my skinny years, even the rudest people who made mean and snide remarks could never make me feel low, discouraged or demoralized. But when you make harsh comments about your own body, by saying it out loud or by even thinking it, it hurts your self-esteem more and it hurts just as much as if when somebody else said it. So, it was me who admonished my own body because I couldn’t wear a certain type of clothes I’d like to wear. I won’t say I was ashamed of my body, but I felt very self-conscious and insecure about it for a really long time. It was my own disoriented view of the aesthetics of my body which filled me with dissatisfaction, made me feel disheartened and lowered my self-esteem.
Our society has placed inordinate value on the beauty of the human body since time immemorial. And, we’ve been brought up in a society where we are conditioned to believe a certain body shape to be perfect. And the cherry on the cake is the digital media, which have been flooding the world with such highly stylized and unrealistic appearance ideals, creating a very flawed concept of “perfect.” The high cultural expectation from this unobtainable “perfect” that has been fabricated in our society has been leading to a lot of discontentment and insecurities in people like me who lack it.
But not long ago, I stumbled upon this beautiful song “Perfect” by Anne Marie with a very powerful message of self-acceptance and it made me realize that I’m OK with not being perfect, and that’s perfect to me!
I realized that I don’t need a perfect body to feel perfect. I needed to like my body to feel perfect. And when rather than fixating on body negativity I started focussing on body positivity I had a clear true perception of my body and it was then I began to respect, appreciate and celebrate my body.
Why do we need somebody else’s approval for our own body? Aren’t we unique because of our imperfections? The ode to self-love is all about loving our imperfections. That’s what makes us perfect, right. And, I’m OK with not being perfect, and that’s perfect to me!
This post is a part of the #UnapologeticGirlz Blogathon Train hosted by Preetjyot, Jasmeet, and Charu. It brings me immense pleasure to share that I, along with 30 other bloggers are celebrating Women’s Day with a twist. I would like to thank Ravijot Kaur for introducing me. Ravijot is a strong single mother who is courageously raising her daughter. She shares the journey of her life with multifarious interests at Shining Shower. Read her take on the prompt “Body positivity” here. I would like to introduce Revati Bhushan. A fellow stay-at-home mom she was a Soft Skills Trainer in the corporate world when motherhood happened. She now shares her parenting journey at Mommy Musings. I’m sure you will enjoy reading her take on the prompt here. Please check out other wonderful posts on the theme by other boarders as well. Here comes the train! Choo Choo!
Love,
Mrs. Sunshine
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