It seems like our lives have become saturated with pressures to modify and change ourselves. We are no longer celebrated for our individuality, and instead left feeling less-than for our inability to emulate our favourite celebrities.
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Though still in our twenties, I’m sure that many will agree with us when we say that we feel as though we’ve endured more adversity than some have in a lifetime. The western culture is doing a fantastic job at ensuring that no teenage period comes without moments of low confidence, comparison and an extreme urge to change the way that we’ve born to be.
Differentiating between reality and the mediated world can enhance your life without denting your happiness. It’s one thing having a role model, but wanting to be that person comes with many negative repercussions. Having an extreme desire to lead a lifestyle other than your own will only bring with it a lack of self respect and a feeling of failure.
Learning to make the best of your current situation, whilst no mean feat, has the ability to drastically turn your life around. Since realising ourselves, that we hold the power to create a lifestyle that we’ve always longed to lead, our mental health has changed dramatically. We’ve become our own motivation and our own role models too. When days become hard we’ve found an ability within ourselves to put into perspective the progress that we’ve made. Where we started. Where we want to be.
No change occurs overnight. That’s not viable, healthy or realistic. Change ebbs and flows just like anything. You may take 5 steps forward and 3 steps back, but when put that into perspective, it is still very much progress.
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There’s no denying that the media has clouded all ability to embrace our own achievements. There is ALWAYS a new goal or benchmark reminding us that we haven’t made it yet. But what if we have? What if we’ve already surpassed our own expectations? Meanwhile allowing ourselves to believe otherwise.
There’s great value in loving ourselves the way we are. Without change. Without extremes. A balanced life accommodates for all situations. It accommodates for days slouched in bed vs days spent on the move. Days where you love your body and days where you hate it. Days when you eat well and days where you don’t. The happiest mindset of all is that where you accept all of the above without stress and without worry.
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Have you learnt to love yourself?