Be Gentle With Yourself.

If your social media newsfeeds are anything like mine, this will probably one of the many posts you see on "body acceptance" today. I see them everywhere- Facebook, Instagram, Youtube....I see articles on websites like HelloGiggles, Buzzfeed, Thought Catalog, etc.

But I don't care if you've read it a million times. I don't care if you think body acceptance is a fad. There are not enough reminders out there. There are not enough people preaching this message. There are not enough people telling you what you need to hear : You. Are. Good. Enough.

This post is inspired by a conversation that I had with one of my best friends this morning. Without spilling her words that were shared in a private conversation, I will just tell you the just of our convo: That none of us, not one, are ever really truly happy with ourselves. And I'm not sure if we ever will be. I don't think I, or any of the other posts/articles, can change that. Because we are human, and we are programmed to strive for "better".

So I won't try to change that.

All I will do, is reach out and say, that if today is one of your bad days, that you are not alone. Maybe today you are beating yourself up about your looks, or a slip up at work, or a bad grade you got. Maybe today you were let down by the speed of your run, or you are angry at yourself for eating that piece of chocolate.

Darling, let it go.

The harsh reality is that you are never going to be perfect. You may never look yourself in the mirror and love every single feature on your body. You may never be okay with your performance at work, your relationships, your mood.

But the good news, is that no one on this earth, not even Beyonce, is 100% content with the person that they are. Maybe that's a let down for you, but I believe it to be the truth.

What we can do instead, is quit beating ourselves up, quit putting the intense pressure on ourselves to be "perfect" and to just say "I'm not perfect, and that's okay".

What you may not realize is that for every "flaw" you see in yourself, there are about a thousand qualities that make you a unique, beautiful, special person. Things that you may not even see because you are too busy tearing yourself down. I think we should all get the chance to see ourselves the way our closest friends and family do. Because I think we may change our minds about ourselves. Your friends and family love, admire, and respect you. You should do the same for yourself. They see something outstanding in you. They are drawn to you. And when they look at you, they do not see your flaws, they see the person they love. It would be great if we could see that in ourselves, too.

So whatever it is tonight that you are unhappy with, let it go. Know that it's okay to feel that way, but also know that you are not doing yourself any favors by bullying yourself over it. Instead, pick out something that you love about yourself, whether it be your body shape, your confidence, your ability to make friends- anything- and flaunt it.