Does lying to ourselves about self-image really help?

We are constantly bombarded with images of how we should look and taunted by pills that make us think we should be happy all the time. At what point do we realize this is all a fantasy world? And we are lying to ourselves if we think we can be anyone but ourselves.

Each morning we drag ourselves out of bed and look into the mirror while we are mindlessly brushing our teeth. We squint and try to focus on the person in the mirror, but what and who is it that we see? A successful business person? A stay at home parent? Or someone who has built there self-image on lies?

It is easy to get caught in the photo shopped world that we live in, with TV and internet ads everywhere we look. They show us how we should look, act and feel. It is sickening how many people take this to heart.

I have never fit the mold for the body type of today’s media. I have had times in my life that I was just way too skinny. I would not eat for a days at time. I felt like eating was a waste of time, as if I was pissed off at my body because I had to do something every 5 hours. Eating just became something I only did when I got headaches or dizzy. This lead to me just becoming all bones. I guess in way I replaced food with cigarettes, which so many people do. There is something satisfying about being skinny and smoking. You can see that in most ads since the 40s. People are skinny and smoking the “right pack” of cigarettes. As if being skinny and smoking is the way it was done.

Even today's mold does not fit me. There is a beard tread that is going through the hipster mainstream right now. I have never been able to grow proper facial hair and really only need to shave about every 2 weeks. Does this make less of a man? Less of a person? I don’t think it does and neither should you. Despite my overly skinny body, once I quit smoking I gained quite a bit of weight. This is another extreme in the eyes of the media. I was no longer the cool skinny smoker kid. I was a fat smokeless adult. Being overweight has always been looked down on in the media image, especially for woman. The standard that we need to be is one sided and if we do not fit that mold we are looked at differently. When we eat, or don’t eat, we are judged by our body type.

So, how do we combat this image? How do we overcome what the media says about body type? Well most people just lie to themselves, but that needs to stop

We look in that mirror in the morning and do everything we to can draw away attention from flaws. Putting on and changing cloths to make us look slimmer or accent feature as to draw attention away from problem areas. In our heads we are laying on the lies about our image as if it is armor that will be stripped away by people throughout the day. Telling ourselves that if we only ate a little less, if we only drank a little less, or worked out a bit more we can be that person, but not today. Today we are still fighting, not living our own lives because our thoughts drift to the stranger from across the room. Is she looking at my attempt at facial hair?  Is he checking out my body or just staring at my stomach? Will she laugh at my blemished skin? Do they know what they are doing to me by staring?

The truth is, it really does not matter. I have accepted that fact that I am not at the right weight, and the fact that I am lazy about doing anything about it. I know that there are somethings about me I can change, others I cannot and so should you.

There are beautiful people everywhere in this world. With their hearts on their sleeve and those hearts are beating and yearning for acceptance that they don’t need. Being happy with yourself and body does not come from anyone else but yourself. You and I are the creators and inhabitants of our body and it is our canvas. We can paint this canvas, we can mold and shape it anyway we want, but we are still master pieces in our own right.

Your image should come from yourself, and not the little lies just to get by. The media and the strangers whose thought you think you can read do not matter. If a change needs to be made then it should be your choice, your decision and your motivation that makes it happen.

I am, who I am, and my body is not the only thing that make me, me. I am a master piece as a whole, and so are you.