Life In a Notebook

What is the first thing you say when you look in the mirror?

Wait, I’ll put it in a better way: what is the first thing you say when you look in the mirror and see a big zit on your face?
Everybody knows the answer, some better than others.

It’s just not about your skin ,your hair, physique, height,bloated belly, and whatever feature people think belongs to the societal beauty level.
The idealistic models on the page and on the cover of the magazine have become “the standard.”
Before anybody attacks me, no, I’m not suggesting you give up your gym, your hair and skin care routine and just accept your lethargic lifestyle.

Being healthy is very important because we owe that to ourselves and, most importantly, to our body, but I have seen and heard people starving themselves to attain perfection, overexercising to maintain their curves, gaining unnecessary muscles, and overusing skincare because of pigmentation and glow, because why not?

The counter argument that I’ll get is, “But all this makes us feel good about ourselves, so why shouldn’t we do it?”

But are we really doing it for OURSELVES?
If yes, then way to go, family!
If there is even a slight possibility of a no, then we must do something about it.

Ironically,  the ones belonging to the second case mentioned above are the first ones who, while giving advice, say that “if someone else doesn’t like you for you, then it’s not worth it.”

Fam, what is the difference between you and them? Even you don’t fancy yourself if a small bump occurs on your face!

Harsh as it seems, but how and why do you expect someone else to like you when you don’t even like yourself?
How will you fill someone else’s cup when your own cup is empty?
How will you give love to someone else when you don’t even love yourself?

Now,don’t you dare say, it’s not always about someone else, aadhya!
Yes, it is. Maybe now it isn’t, but it eventually started because of circumstances created by someone else!

Whether someone in your life, a show, a model you saw on social media, or whatever miscellaneous reason, nobody is judging. Who am I to judge? We are all in the same boat.
Even I have followed several skin care tips (which I later realised were harming my skin even more) because of my insecurity that arises from watching others having a better skin than I do.
You have no idea how many times I have overapplied my concealer to treat my scars or overwashed my face to get rid of that nasty bump on my face (bumps to be precise). The situation became worse when I had random people suggest remedies for the same, yikes, a disaster!

But eventually, after a lot of ups and downs, I understood how foolish I was to think that my whole self revolves around the skin on my face! This doesn’t mean that I stopped caring about my skin; I do take measures, but now during breakouts, I take it easy on myself. Now, this is my experience, I have seen people experience the same or even worse; some friends and, in some cases, family members also pass a few comments publicly, which hurt very badly and, worse, make them cry alone in the bathroom.

If you shine only on your flaws, all your perfects will dim.”

Save some love for yourself, fam, and start your day with a smile. Whenever you look in the mirror, smile and appreciate what you have, not with the thought of what more you can have or do! Pause and be in the moment!

Make yourself and your personality so polished that when you enter a room, your energy is the sole thing turning heads rather than the exterior.

Do you, only for you!

Maintain and be kind to yourself, always.
After all, even the cover models don’t look like the cover models in real life!