We have all heard Hailee Steinfeld’s new song “Love Myself,” and put it on repeat while dancing around our room in our underwear pretending we’re the latest and greatest hotshot singer. No? Okay, maybe that’s just me…anyway, here are 3 important reasons as to why you should love yourself. And no, not in that way, so get your mind out of the gutter and read on.
1. Accept who you are
Growing up, I constantly felt as if I was never good enough. Between being the oldest of my family, going to a competitive Catholic high school, and feeling like I was never smart enough to belong there, the pressure added up. It wasn’t until recently that I, a junior in college, finally accepted who I am. Let me also say I am not a size 2, nor do I weigh 105 pounds. I am size 4/6, depending on the day. I weigh an average of 125 pounds, I’m on the curvier side, and my curly hair frizzes like it has no other purpose on this planet.
2. Don’t care about how you look
The lyric “I’m gonna put my body first” speaks to me. From “thigh gaps” to now “thigh brows”, our world places too much importance on how we should look and not enough on who we are as individuals I used to struggle on a daily basis with how I looked. I would obsess over my weight, what I ate, and I even convinced myself that I was “fat” at the rightful age of 12. I clearly remember one day asking my mom if my thighs were too big (note: I was 12, weighed under 100 pounds, & was 4’11” then). Then I entered high school and skipped breakfast most days, or would only eat a small lunch and dinner. I started high school at 103 pounds and graduated at 108 pounds. Everyone around me seemed slim, fit, and beautiful, while I felt like the ugly, chunky duckling. I know, crazy, right? My boyfriend at the time (who I am still dating) was the only one who constantly told me I was beautiful. Although I didn’t believe him, and sometimes still don’t, I started to place less focus on my outside appearance and place more on who I was as a person.
3. Ignore social media
The symbol of our generation, social media, influences our views like no other. The amount of times I scroll through Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr and see some girl who has a “perfect” body along with “perfect hair”, I ask myself, “Why don’t I look like that?”, only to proceed by shoving ice cream into my mouth as a way of feeling sorry for myself. This HAS to stop. Social media attempts to “teach us”what everyone should look like. Do you really want the entire female population to all look the same exact way? I, for one, do not, and you shouldn’t either.
I think it’s often hard for girls of any age to truly accept themselves for who they are. It doesn’t matter if you’re 15, 20, or even 30, there is a constant battle of learning to love yourself due to the pressures many of us face on a daily basis. We need to remind ourselves that our world is made up all sorts of people and each one is one of a kind. So queue “Love Myself”, dance in your underwear, and make sure you sing “gonna love myself, no, I don’t need anyone else, I love me.”
Featured image via Daria Shevtsova on Pexels
