False perceptions: True love

Society’s impact on young women’s esteem

Society told the young lady on the left she was too fat. She weighed 123 lbs and thought she needed to lose weight to be acceptable.

That was me and I was 18 years old. I believed all the magazines that said I would be perfect if only... you name it, that girl needed it.

The woman on the right, also me, wishes she could go back in time to tell that young woman that she is perfect as she is. She is curvy, healthy, and beautiful in her own way. She is smart, kind, and compassionate.

Today’s young people have more than just magazines and tv programs influencing their self-perception, social media is everywhere, everyone has filters not just the high-priced photographers with air brush artistry; all working together to make people appear perfect.

I am 57 now. When I was in school, we still wrote in cursive; that doesn’t mean we swore, Gen Z, it means our letters all joined up in a weird way. Not really certified why... imagine how much more we could have created if we focused on what we could write, rather than how close it was to some old guy’s idea of correctness...

What will women accomplish when we finally recognize that how we look is not as important as who we are in the world.

If I had one wish for today’s people, all people, not just young women, it would be that to love and accept yourself exactly as you are. Right now, as is, no changes required.

Love yourself now.

Not 10 pounds, ten dollars or ten years from now; as you are right now!

Imagine all the things you could do if you were perfect and then Go Do Them Now because you are the perfect version of yourself!

I wish I could tell the girl on the left that she was beautiful. She was smart and she could do anything she set her mind to. That girl did not need a man to complete her. That girl did not need someone to give her validation of her worth, she was priceless. I cannot go back and tell her, so I will tell you what you may have heard before.

You don’t need a tummy tuck, facelift, or Botox to enjoy life; just enjoy life.

You are enough as you are. Go and do all the things, live life all the way through to the end with an eager heart, arms wide open to receive your wishes.

You are beautiful; scars, lines, and extra curves wherever they may be... just live!

As my Scoria yoga mat proclaims “Stay weird and be kind”.