19 May 2021 – Body hatred is real, and I have it. I think everyone has it. Ask anyone what they don’t like about their body, and they can think of at least one thing. We all have it to varying degrees and about different parts of the body. At times, we have it really bad, and it becomes a big issue. Other times it’s just a bother but not a big deal. It ebbs and flows throughout our lives depending on our internal and external circumstances. The external influences on our body hatred include social media, our relationships with others and society. If the world makes us think a certain ideal exists, then we compare ourselves to that ideal. The internal triggers are harder to pin down because they are often very personal; however, they are usually based on how our external influences have affected our lives up to that point in time.
I am sure of a few things. One, if each of us were isolated from birth and never had any contact with another person, we wouldn’t have body hatred because we would think we were fine just how we are because we wouldn’t know there was another way. Two, if we were only in contact with one other person, we would experience body hatred because we would compare ourselves to the other person. Finally, if we were each taken right now and isolated from everyone else, we would still experience body hatred because we would still have that picture of an ideal in our minds, and we would compare ourselves to it even alone.
Everyone experiences it. Everyone! We hear all the time about celebrities that suffer from it. We’ve all heard our friends say something disparaging about themselves. Women are often more obvious with their concerns, but men do it too. Often a man can make it look like a competition, but it’s actually internal hurt coming out. Sometimes there are easy-to-see signs such as plastic surgery, eating disorders, addiction, self-mutilation and obsessive exercise, but it is often just an inner struggle. I obviously can’t understand how other people see themselves, but I can describe how I see myself.
I have struggled with body hatred throughout my life and in varying degrees and definitely about different things.
Body hatred is real, and I suffer from it. I’ve been lucky because it has never caused me any major issues, but I still think about it more than I should. I still have great legs, and I work hard to make sure they stay that way. Often I hate how I look in clothes, and very seldom do I feel pretty. The weird thing is that most days, I think I look good naked. Some days I think I look great, and some days I don’t. That’s just the nature of my life. I have found one thing that helps how I look – happiness. If I am happy, I like how I look.
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