Pictures from the Past October 31 2017

I was browsing social media the other day, like I often do, and came across someone who posted a status along the lines of: "When you look at a picture of yourself back when you thought you were fat, but you were actually skinny. And now you wish you were what you thought was fat back then."

this     broke     my     heart

Why are we so damn hard on ourselves?
Why is it that how we look holds weight to our value?
Why is it that society attaches our worthiness to beauty standards?

I was putting together some images last week and I ran into two pictures of myself that were side-by-side in which there was about 30 pounds difference between the photos. I literally looked at the pictures and thought: "huh, interesting. Look how I've changed". I didn't think I was better or more worthy for being skinnier. I didn't think I was bad or less valuable for being heavier in the more current photo. I just made an observation, plain and simple. Over time, I've been realizing that my worth has nothing to do with how much body fat I have or how pretty I am. I also realize that I would have been much harsher on myself just a few years ago. 

But people do think that those photos represent that they were something better, more valuable, more worthy when they look at those old photos. Why is that??

                                      *ahem*
                                           society
                                                 social norms
                                                       fat shaming
                                                             "take up less space" 
                                                                    "skinny means better"
                                                                          
If we're being real here, I would argue that as I've gotten older that I've become wiser, stronger, more empathetic, more athletic, a better listener, etc. regardless of what my dress size is or has been. We grow, we change, we embrace from the inside. The person we are comes from within.

We are good people by being good people, not by simply looking good. 

Let's work on looking deeper to see the value, worth, goodness, and morality in ourselves and others. We offer so much more to the world than what is shown on the outside.
Compliment someone today -- based on who they are as a person. :)

Carry on with confidence.