Comparing yourself to others. Everybody does it. I am especially bad for doing this, so bad in fact that it absolutely wrecks my self esteem. I look at girls on Instagram with their perfect long hair, hour glass figure that is to die for, perfectly sparkling white teeth and extremely healthy diets and I just think why can't I be like that?
Truth is; I have chubby cheeks, always have and always will and after having my daughter my weight is a lot higher than I'd like it to be even though I force myself to work out 3/4 days a week and it seems that no matter how much makeup I put on; I still feel like I cannot compete and compare.
Some of my closest girl friends are absolutely stunning, naturally beautiful, even more so with makeup on and have these amazing figures and I always feel like the odd one out, the black sheep, the runt of the litter.
I try so hard not to feel this way. I try to see the good in myself, to accept my flaws and love what I can't change. My boyfriend compliments me often, but as much as I enjoy the feeling it gives me; it never lasts more than a few minutes and then I am back to doubting myself again.
But slowly, I am learning. It is a long, painful process with a lot of self doubt and feeling ridiculous leaving my house in a dress even in scorching weather because I am sooo used to wearing sweats or leggings. It's forcing myself to look in the mirror and see the positives instead of all the negatives. Like I said; a slow process.
One of the main things I do is remind myself that not everything you see on social media is reality. Anyone can edit their photograph to look absolutely glamorous or go to the beach for the day and take loads of pictures and make out that it's their lifestyle or that they're on some glamorous holiday. It's really easy to take a picture of that one off healthy salad you ate and post it as if it's all you eat. I often have to remind myself that those beautiful girls that I compare myself too have their bad days too, they have days where they doubt themselves or where they are sat in the same leggings they wore for the past three days and are bare faced and makeup free. There are days those girls will be bloated after their high calorie dinners.
It's super important to remind myself that nobody is perfect and that it is normal to have bad days where I doubt myself at times but I have to make sure I don't let social media and the pressure surrounding it consume me on those days. I tell myself that social media can make the poorest of people look rich.
You have to remember that too, because you are perfect in your own ways, with or without makeup, bloated or not and whether you're all glammed up or wearing the same outfit for the third day running with hair that has been dry shampooed for the last week.
Love yourself. That is the greatest gift of all.
Love,
S xx
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