Self-Love

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about self-love. I am a person who is overweight, and my body doesn’t fit our society’s ideals for the perfect body, but in spite of all that, I really, really love myself. Today, I was thinking about posting a picture of myself on social media in a bikini, and I wondered how other people would view it. Would they admire the confidence it takes to post a picture of myself in a swimsuit or would they criticize me for not being ashamed of my overweight body? That last thought got me thinking. Why do we (as a society) judge people for being confident and loving themselves? Why are our standards so high that we subconsciously want people to deny themselves love if they don’t meet societal expectations? I am writing this article to say a big “screw you” to all the voices that tell me not to love myself. All the voices saying, “your body has to look this way before you love yourself,” or “the guy you like has to like you back before you love yourself,” or “you have to have this GPA before you can love yourself” are not worth my time or attention.

Loving myself doesn’t mean I don’t have flaws. It doesn’t mean I have no room for improvement. It means that I am embracing the person I am for who I am in this moment. It means that instead of being my harshest critic, I am choosing to be my biggest cheerleader. It means I appreciate who I currently am while encouraging and motivating myself to become the best version of myself. I love myself and am striving to love myself more and more. I refuse to apologize for loving myself, and you shouldn’t either.

Alafia Adeleke is a second-year public relations major. Her biggest loves are Jesus, joy, Harry Styles, and spreading positivity to the rest of the world.

#selflove #love #society