I want to feature YOU on Get Real Utah! Send me your thoughts and stories here and use #GetRealUtah to post pictures
showing what beauty and confidence mean to you, and you could be selected as the Weekly Feature.
showing what beauty and confidence mean to you, and you could be selected as the Weekly Feature.
This year, like every other year since I turned 13, I made the same New Year’s resolution: to get into “better shape.” I couldn’t tell you what I mean by that… I don’t even have a specific goal. But someone, somewhere, must have told me that I should constantly be in pursuit of some unattainable body goal, because I’m still chasing it.
When I’m honest with myself, I am a perfectly healthy size. I feel great too! As a young woman, you almost feel obligated to not just say that you’re happy with yourself, and your body. When you spend time with a group of girls [*some, not all*], you’ll see this in action. “I’m so fat.” “I hate my nose.” “How could anyone ever like me??”
Because, my dear, I like you for sense of humor. For your kind heart. For your generosity. For the way you snort when you laugh. I like you because, every once in a while, you’ll order pizza with me at midnight, and not make yourself feel bad about it. I DON’T like you because we can share size small clothing, or because you always order salad at lunch.
Groupthink- “A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the… Desire for conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.” Sound familiar?
We have it drilled into us from a very young age, that we can’t like our bodies. That people will like us, accept us, when we meet the constantly changing beauty standards that society sets for us. That’s why I’ve had the same New Year’s resolution since I was a little girl.
So today, January 10th, 2015, I have decided to forgo any New Year’s resolution that involves the current, “unimproved” Lucy, not “being good enough.” Because I’m good enough for me.
So to all my sweet friends (all 52 of my Miss America sisters, my Miss Vermont/OT contestants, and my friends from UVM and Virginia), I urge you to throw away those New Year’s resolutions. I challenge you to instead fall as deeply in love with your soul, and everything you offer to this world besides your appearance, as I already have with each of you. Because this version of you, with an extra ten pounds or tiny arm muscles, is loved for so many other reasons.
When I’m honest with myself, I am a perfectly healthy size. I feel great too! As a young woman, you almost feel obligated to not just say that you’re happy with yourself, and your body. When you spend time with a group of girls [*some, not all*], you’ll see this in action. “I’m so fat.” “I hate my nose.” “How could anyone ever like me??”
Because, my dear, I like you for sense of humor. For your kind heart. For your generosity. For the way you snort when you laugh. I like you because, every once in a while, you’ll order pizza with me at midnight, and not make yourself feel bad about it. I DON’T like you because we can share size small clothing, or because you always order salad at lunch.
Groupthink- “A psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, in which the… Desire for conformity in the group results in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.” Sound familiar?
We have it drilled into us from a very young age, that we can’t like our bodies. That people will like us, accept us, when we meet the constantly changing beauty standards that society sets for us. That’s why I’ve had the same New Year’s resolution since I was a little girl.
So today, January 10th, 2015, I have decided to forgo any New Year’s resolution that involves the current, “unimproved” Lucy, not “being good enough.” Because I’m good enough for me.
So to all my sweet friends (all 52 of my Miss America sisters, my Miss Vermont/OT contestants, and my friends from UVM and Virginia), I urge you to throw away those New Year’s resolutions. I challenge you to instead fall as deeply in love with your soul, and everything you offer to this world besides your appearance, as I already have with each of you. Because this version of you, with an extra ten pounds or tiny arm muscles, is loved for so many other reasons.