Tough Skin

Unique Is The New Normal by twinkletune

Unique Is The New Normal by Rhia (twinkletune)

Teenagers are prone to worrying on their bodies development when they reach the stage of puberty. It is a phase that each one of us go through. We worry whether we're thin or not, whether we're too tall or too short, whether we're too tanned or too pale, whether we should put facial cream to remove pimples or makeup to look prettier. Our mindset creates an image of ourselves that we perceive as worse than what others do as that is our natural response.

Humanity has raised expectations throughout decades on what the perfect model of a man or woman should be. There are advertisements everywhere promoting products with images of humans whose photos have undergone hours of photoshop to look like the way they are now - yet the rest of the population changes that specific photo into a body norm which all of us thrive to reach but are unable to.

We all go to our own limits and might even extend beyond them to see if we can reach that state of perfection but we often forget that perfection doesn't exist. Everyone is different and no one should be criticized for being their own unique person because if the entire world started to follow the expectations that fashion or entertainment raise, then there might as well be a cloning machine than reproduction.

Individuality is what runs this world. If a person wasn't fat then who would've come up with a way to cure obesity or create the vast variety of exercise routines that exist today or even provide jobs to all those fitness teachers. If a person doesn't love you for who you are then they aren't worth it, they aren't worth your attention and definitely aren't worth the will you carry to change yourself. A person should only think about changing themselves if they feel they want to, not because they're pressured to by the conception of someone liking them if they're thinner.

I was one of those kids during middle school, one who would keep critically analysing her body to see if it met the standards of her peers. Many of the students in my grade were thinner than I was. Even my two best friends were like spaghetti and sticks, I would alway feel conscious when I would walk beside them. To help me feel better about myself, I began to wear baggy clothes, eat less due to anxiety and cake myself with powder to show that I have fairer skin. My parents started to notice and questioned me about it but I just brushed it off, I knew that they were worried but I guess any stereotypical girl who hates her body would shut her parents out when they only tried to help.

No one noticed how I felt and I didn't want them to, I laughed like usual and just acted normally because I didn't want anyone to feel bad for me. There would be mornings where I would stand in front of the mirror for more than ten minutes just assessing the size of my breasts or how far my stomach would push out and soon it became a habit - a ongoing routine than never seemed to end. I would put lipgloss on to remove the dark outlines on my lips and make them look redder, I would wear longer earrings to make my earlobes look less fatter. Thinking about it now makes me feel stupid but at that time, the only thing I cared about was being beautiful instead of getting good grades.

When I started high school was finally the time I was able to accept who I was. I accepted that I was tall and stopped slumping my shoulders to look thinner. I discarded the hoodies and embraced my body as if it were part of my lively personality. I began to interact more with others instead of worrying about what they'd think of me, and gradually started to return back to my old eating habits of lava cakes and garlic bread. I finally became someone I loved and it has been the best thing that has ever happened to me.

So to everyone who is wary of how they look and allow those shadows to consume you and control the way you act - when you look in the mirror the next time and say to yourself 'I feel good', that's when you know that you have reached that stage of maturity where life's problems don't include your appearance anymore. I wasted three years of my life wondering on how to improve myself when honestly, the real question is 'how should we improve the world's thought process?' because it ain't our fault that we're different, it is humanity's fault for judging us if we are.

That is the biggest lesson I have learnt and I hope that all wattpaders and any other person who doesn't appreciate the beauty of their lovely self - understand how amazing you are and give yourself a big hug for being unique because that's the best thing you can ever be. Free your body from all these restraints and just live, laugh and love yourself.