Thigh Gaps

        I know that everyone stresses about their bodies. You can never be too skinny or too toned. Considering summer is almost here, that pressure to rid your self of all body fat, is consuming everyone. I deal with this too, especially due to the fact the I live in California. Looking around everyone you see is tan, skinny, toned, and has perfect skin. Obviously, all the actors and models within our midst don't help at all. For the longest time I hadn't cared what people thought. I was content with the way I was. I even remember in like fourth grade, my friends and I would compare who had the most fat rolls, now we all compare who has the least.
         No matter how skinny, tan, or perfect you think someone is, chances are they don't agree. I remember complementing someone on their legs and having them turn to me and say, "Are you crazy? They are so fat!". Whether my opinion of them was true or false, the only opinion that they would ever remember was their own. A teacher once told me something that is entirely spot on; "If you were told ten compliments and one negative remark in one day, all you would remember was the criticism." I really don't know why all human beings are like that. We all say that we try and focus on the positive but in reality we always only remember the negative.
         I've always been a little self conscious of my body, especially around the opposite sex. Recently I went to the beach after school with some friends and I felt a little chubby. I was so preoccupied with sucking my stomach in and preventing myself from breathing, I failed to notice something pretty rare. One of the girls I was with also was a little chubby (I mean she wasn't fat at all but her stomach wasn't toned, much like mine) and she completely ignored it and was sitting normally and talking to the guys without a care in the world. It shocked me because one; she didn't care at all, two; the guys didn't seem to notice, and three; she was having the time of her life and whether she was self-conscious or not, she didn't let it affect her. It was a big wake up call for me. Maybe I shouldn't stress so much about being society's definition of perfect.       
        I know that in today's society, with the help of instagram, tumblr, and twitter, we are constantly reminded of those tall, skinny, long-haired, big-eyed girls that we all envy. The ones with thigh gaps and perfect skin. The ones that, with only one look at them, crumble our self-esteem immediately. If we keep wishing everyday to wake up with a thigh gap or to maybe have no more acne, we lose the special part of ourselves that make us unique. What if every girl was a replica of each other? Everyone would have long beachy hair, a thigh gap, tan body, slim stomach, clear skin, big eyes, the perfect nose...etc. If we all had that would you all really want to be like that? Or maybe we would finally accept who we are. After all if we can accept who we are, others will too.
         So as summer approaches, keep that in mind. Though we might not all be stick skinny with the perfect tan, we are all gorgeous. Accept who you are and focus on having fun instead of being paranoid about your looks.
xoxo Paloma