I’m trying to stay positive about my body but it’s so hard when I see myself and see other people. I know I shouldn’t compare but I do.
(submitted by: Anonymous)
There are better people to counsel you here, but I’ll give you what I’ve got.
Comparison is inevitable; don’t turn a natural human impulse into one more thing that makes you ashamed. Instead, learn to compare yourself fairly, in the appropriate context, with a generosity of spirit. (That girl over there may be prettier than you, but that doesn’t make you ugly. Her overflowing cup does not drain your own.)
And you don’t need to convince yourself that you’re “beautiful the way you are” to be body positive. You just need to believe in your capacity to do your best.
Go ahead and make your comparisons. But every night when you go to bed, ask yourself if you did something that day that made your body just a little —even imperceptibly— healthier, stronger, or prettier… if you did, good girl, do it again tomorrow. If you didn’t, do better, and keep trying.