Overcoming Body Image Issues Through Self-Acceptance

I think we all breath a small sigh of relief when we read or see the magazines and the shows that reveal the "stars and celebrities" without makeup or at the beach with a not so great figure. The reason is that our culture has started to hold all human beings, young and old, male and female, famous or not; to a very unattainable standard. All for the price of consumerism, the newest diet, the newest outfit, the most famous auto of the week. The make up, the liposuction, the teeth brightening, the dog they are holding, it is all part of the whole picture of what it is to be "in", "a celebrity", "a star", etc, etc. The problem is we are out here living real lives, without the benefits of 24 hour beauty staff, publicists, wardrobe people, etc. We are seeing glimpses of people that were filmed or photographed and they look like this for 10 minutes after 5 hours of prep work.

The problem with this mentality is that it is usually a completely unattainable goal and we are following the trend like the proverbial hamsters spinning on a wheel that goes no where. Oh, you can "get the look" of someone that you admire, you can buy the clothes, the make up, you can try to duplicate something you envy in someone else; but the problem will come when you try to "be" that air brushed, made up by a staff of 30 people for a 10 minute interview, million dollar beauty budget, poor soul who really does not look like that getting out of bed in the morning. Because, you are not with these people 24 hours a day, they usually are very private about their down time and they should be; but when the paparazzi catch them being "down", well, some of them look quite a bit different!

It is harder to convince some one of this before they reach their 30's then after, because we usually don't come out of the "fog of seeing everyone as like us" until then. But, it does worry me that even men and women in their 50's and older are still being unrealistic about wanting to somehow return to their 20's in the looks department. I don't mean healthy, healthy is good, but if you can't fit perfectly into your high school jeans, well, please, just get over it and see it for how silly you are being, there are so many things in life that are so much more important and attainable even. If you people watch, you will see, like it or not, we are all pretty average on some scales; and yet, our friends and families loves us and we love them for who they are as a whole person.