Sylvia Mac
Walking into the nightclub in my Teens and watching other young people dancing and talking with boys made me wonder what would happen if I was approached by a boy. What would I say, what would I do and should I just keep my head low. I decided to sit in the corner all night because I just didn’t feel confident enough to talk with anyone. My body wasn’t like others and I would only be bullied even more once it was revealed. My lack of confidence and low self-esteem caused me to have panic attacks and anxiety if anyone approached me, which is why I stayed away from busy places. My next major hurdle was the ladies toilets. Should I go alone and take my sister with me? Whatever I did I needed to keep my head down and make sure no-one caught me looking at myself in the mirror.
It was very difficult always believing that everyone was so much better than me. I put everyone on a pedestal and myself at the bottom of the pile. All these young ladies were so much more beautiful than me so it was important to keep myself hidden. Nightclubs were often avoided just because it was full of beautiful people and I would never would fit into that category so it was often best to avoid. I sometimes wonder what I would do if I was a teenager today trying to keep up with looking like others? What happened about being unique and embracing our inner and outer beauty?
New figures have come through to show that more people are self harming because of images on social media that are influencing them to look like others. Why should we change our bodies? Everyone should be able to embrace and love their own bodies without trying to conform to something else that can be potentially be dangerous to their health.
When I hear this I worry we are living in a world of cloning. Are we one day going to all look like each other? Every time I come across the word ‘flaw’ which means an imperfection it worries me that young people will be thinking that scars skin conditions are not acceptable in society. We should stop using words such as flaws and start using encouraging words for our bodies so that many people can feel happy and accepted in their own skin.
Today I share my pics through social media to show everyone that life is for living and our bodies go through struggles that we should be proud of. These things can be skin conditions, scars, stretchmarks, curves, dimples and much more. Be proud of who you are and start to Love yourself by making simple mindset changes and accept ourselves for who we are. People can make their opinion but be strong as Self Love is all you need.