Being a female student at Boston College can sometimes be one of the most difficult jobs in the world. I feel it every day as I walk to class and immediately compare myself to other girls on campus. We are constantly bombarded by images and ideas of what we “should” look like, act like, and ultimately be like. But I’m here to tell you: it stops right here. There are no guidelines to being a ‘beautiful’ girl (because guess what? You already ARE), there is no secret recipe or “trick” that will get you to feel like you fit in, because in the end, no matter who you are, you are perfect the way you are.
I spent a great deal of time in high school and in the beginning of college constantly trying to micro-manage the things about myself that made me unhappy: my body type, my hair, my skin, anything really that I could nitpick. It drove me to the point of not only exhaustion but at some points also had physical, detrimental effects on my body. It seemed that if I could try to be more like anyone but myself, despite any health risks or costs, then I was doing something beneficial because I somehow needed to be someone other than who I am. But then one day I realized, who the h*** cares? Who am I trying to impress and better yet, why am I so concerned with what they think about me? As long as I am comfortable in my own skin, that is all that matters. Instead of trying to compare myself to others and to change who I am, I have begun to embrace the unique qualities that make me who am I, and this alone has given me confidence that was previously muted in a world of negative body-image.
Ladies, we need to stop trying to fit a an ‘ideal’ and unrealistic cookie-cutter mold that is impossible to fill. We need to stop mentally and physically comparing ourselves to others. We need to stop acting like whom we are, for some absurd and unknown reason, isn’t good enough. We need to be comfortable and happy in our own skin. We need to lift each other up and support one another. We need to give each other compliments and positivity. We need to stick together during the lows and the highs. We need to become a support system.
Because at the end of the day, we ARE good enough. We are exactly perfect the way we are.
Sources:
http://40.media.tumblr.com/48e353c35ed833e12eddcb38304e5465/tumblr_nbo25…
http://36.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m48jq2NsRn1rw4jkio1_500.jpg