It is all about YOU!
Hi Everyone,
Hope everything is going great! Today's topic is about YOU. I know you're probably thinking "umm ok Anita...." but hear me out for a second.
It is so crazy how social media can connect you with amazing people, who understand and relate to you, and you're like "wait where have you been all my life????". I recently connected with an amazing young woman named Toluwase Oladapo. We connected based on our thoughts about the plus size community and simply about our bodies. Our journeys were almost the same; we went through the trials and tribulations of weight loss, in which she achieved her goal but, losing weight for the wrong reasons.
Toluwase has a video on Youtube in which she speaks on the outer body experience, her journey, her research and the reality of plus size women in America. Here is the link for you to check out:
[youtube=://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AoNCR9sbwyE&w=854&h=480]
Now she discusses her three reasons for losing weight, and one of them really hit home. She says that she wanted to lose weight so that she can stop being bullied and to satisfy people. Hmmm, satisfying others, that sound so familiar to me. And another major point she brings up is destination syndrome, when one believes that they will attain a certain gratitude or happiness when they get to a certain point in life. For instance, " I would be happy when I lose weight, or when I get married I will be happy, or even when I have kids my life will be complete...."
And for me this is ssoo true. I would go on fad diets believing that if and when I lost the weight I could attain love, acceptance and overall happiness. With me I also wanted to prove to others that I could lose the weight; or that I can actually run, better yet run fast, then suddenly get crazy tired towards the middle of my run, oh goodness.
Or that I am not eat that extra donut, or that I am not going to eat at all in front of others just to prove that my weight does not determine what and how much I eat. I have always wanted to prove that I am more than my body. It's weird, I wanted to lose weight in order to be accepted; yet I also wanted people to not look at my body and not allow my weight to define my character.
I have realized that with everything we do, especially when it comes to our bodies ,we need to get to that point in life in which we achieve goals set for ourselves. No one can satisfy the world, it is impossible. However, what we can do is to stop thinking about the satisfaction from others and think about ourselves, because it is literally about you. You are your own person, and when you love yourself, when you do things to make you happy, there's a sudden difference in the happiness that you want to achieve.
You have to see your beauty, your worth, before anyone else. When you can see that, everything else does not matter. LoveYOULiveNow is a mission for me because, I see that times when I put myself first, and my internal thoughts about my body; the negative comments and opinions from others, no longer seem to phase me. Jazmine Sullivan once sang a song called "Masterpiece"
"...Every part of me is a vision of a portrait, Of Mona, of Mona Lisa, Every part of me is beautiful ,And I finally see I'm a work of art ,A masterpiece..."
I am a masterpiece, and so are you. Start believing in that. Start believing in you, because at the end of the day, IT IS ALL ABOUT YOU!
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Ankara Jacket purchased from http://demestiksnewyork.etsy.com/
Shoes: Steve Madden
Jeans: Fashion To Figure
White Collar Shirt: Eloquii
Earrings: Aldo, Necklace J.Crew
Photographer: Rochelle, IG: fatleopard.jpeg