NOT PERFECT, JUST FORGIVEN

MAGNIFICENTLY MCKINNLEY: Blog #2

Hello and Good Afternoon to all my magnificent people! This month is Mental Health Awareness Month, so we are here to be healthy, happy, and show each and every person in this world love. Today we’re discussing some Body Positivity, and honestly just Positivity in general! I don’t know about y’all but one of the biggest things I struggle with is learning how to TRULY accept me for me. And I know you’re thinking, “Here we go again, another body positive post” with maybe a slight eye roll. But I’m here to tell you all that this one is different !! 

First of all, when I discuss Body Positivity, I’m not just talking about loving your curves, I’m talking about loving your ENTIRE body: mind, body and soul. All of the components that make you you! Yes, loving your curves and every inch of your body is so so important, but so is loving every inch of your mind, your soul, and all of the core things that make you into who you are. I don’t only struggle with disliking parts of my appearance and picking apart my body image, I struggle with tearing apart components of my personality, the way I act, speak, laugh, love, and handle situations in my life. I am 100% an overthinker, as I’m assuming most of us are in today’s day age considering the amount of pressure that society puts on us to be “perfect”. But I’m here to say the NO ONE IS PERFECT! Surprising, right? How could I possibly make a statement such as that one? Well, believe it or not, it’s true. No one in this world is “perfect” or perfect in the way society defines “perfect”. I’ll go into this a little bit more later on in this post. 

Now you may be thinking, how do you possibly struggle with body confidence? I’m saying this because I have had many many people tell me that I “come off” as a very confident person. And each time I hear this, I laugh. I am NO where near “very confident”. I mean we all have things we pick apart about ourselves, each and everyday, striving to be like someone we see on the internet or in a show or someone that we know. As I said before, I have always struggled with accepting me for me. I hate on my body and my actions a lot more than people think I do, a whole lot more than I would like to. And every time I sit and pick something out about myself I don’t like or want to change, I tell myself that I should just learn to love me for me and that other people’s opinions don’t matter. We all know how hard this is to accept. 

I struggle with loving parts of myself for many reasons, but the leading cause for me is the pressure of being this “perfect self” from outside influences and the standard of society. Society wants us to be beautiful, fit, healthy, fun, successful, in love, and confident; as if we are all supposed to grow up and become a Kardashian or something. Well I’m sorry but I can’t possibly balance all of that at once! I try my hardest but I can only achieve so many things at a time. For example: to be successful in my education, I have to study, pretty much 24/7, so that means that looking “beautiful” and working out and eating healthy and having a social life, all takes the back burner. This works for everything  in life. As much as we want to “have it all”, we physically can’t. AND THAT’S OKAY! It’s okay to not be on top of your game all of the time, to not excel in school all of the time, to miss a workout, to eat a cheese burger and fries and finished it off with dessert, to want to stay in your bed and watch Netflix instead of hitting a party with your friends, to walk out of the house without a full face of make-up, in sweats and your hair in a bun. We aren’t perfect, and that’s okay. 

As I said above, no one in this world is “perfect” or perfect in the way society defines “perfect”. We may not all be reality TV starts with boat loads of money, personal trainers, professional chefs, nannies, and endless job opportunities. We are real people. People who God created. God did not create us to be “perfect”. He created us to be us, to make mistakes but learn from them, to love but not lust, to be successful but not greedy, to be powerful but not overpowering. We are human beings, we are by no means perfect. 

As stated in Matthew 6:25: “Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more then clothing?” I think about this verse almost everyday. Every time I go to dislike a part of myself, I remember that God did not make me to be perfect; I am loved and forgiven by him each and everyday of my life, which to me, makes me feel perfect. My life is so much more than what I look like, what I wear, and what I eat or drink; life to me, is about being an incredible human being. Being kind, compassionate, warm, loving, and real. People will respond to you soo much better if you are a positive, shining ray of light, rather than if you are dressed in the latest fashion and going eating the best foods. As long as I am loved and forgiven by God, for the mistakes I make, for the hate that I place on myself or that others place on me; than in my eyes I am perfect. I am confident in myself because I know the Lord strengthens me each and everyday and helps me grow into an outstanding human. He does not care what I wear or what I eat or drink, he wants me to the most amazing human being I can be, to help others, to love others for who they are not what they look like and to live a faithful life. So though I may not be what society wants me to look like, act like, or be like; I believe that I am a wonderful human being in his eyes. As stated on my shirt, I am not perfect, just forgiven. And that’s all that matters! 

What I wish for all of you is to learn to accept yourselves for the magnificent human beings that each and everyone of you are! You all have so many things to love about yourselves and be proud of and I’m here to support that, and tell you that I love those things about you! STOP obsessing over your body image, your actions, your performance in work/school/activities. By just showing up and being the incredible human being that you are, you are already perfect in God’s eyes and in mine. :) My challenge for you all today, and for myself, is to write out 3 things you love about yourself and why. I challenge you to pick out things that you would normally state that you dislike about yourself, in order to turn those negative connotations into solely positive ones! I am going to do it right here for all of you, and I challenge you to comment yours below, so we can help each other embrace our feelings of flaw and help each other grow in confidence, body positivity, and life. Here are my 3 things:

1. My curves/weight - I have always struggled with the negative thoughts of calling my body “fat” and “ugly” and not perfect. But today I’m here to say that I love my body. I love the way my curves look in a dress. I love how my thick thighs allow me to be athletic and fit. I love how my arms are strong enough to carry at least 12 grocery bags in one run from my car to my house. I love that I have a booty without having to necessarily work for one. And I love having hands that are big enough to hold a LOT of animal crackers in them so I can tell myself that one handful is still “healthy”. 

2. My smile - normally I would say that I dislike my teeth, or my crooked/square smile, but today I’m here to say that I love my smile. I’m so thankful that I have a bright and beautiful smile to share with others. I love how warm and welcoming my smile is. I love how my smile allows me to connect with others and offer a sense of positivity, comfort, happiness, and love towards them. I love that my smile is one of the first things people notice about me and that they feel joyous and supported when they see it. 

3.  My laugh - normally I would state how I dislike how I laugh at everything, or how loud my laugh is. But I’m here to say that I love my laugh. I love that my laugh is boisterous and joyful. I love that it allows me to connect with others and show my appreciation towards them. I love that when I laugh so hard, I can’t breathe or I start to cry tears of joy. I love that people can tell me by my laugh from a mile away; that my laugh defines me as a person and makes me stand out. I love how my nose crinkles up when I laugh, and that people love that about me. 

   There are so many things I love about myself that I wouldn’t normally realize if I didn’t take the time to truly think about why I love them. So I encourage you to please partake in this challenge, whether it be here on my blog, on a sticky note, in the notes section on your phone, or on a piece of paper in a notebook; so that you can learn to love everything about yourself even if you dislike it right now. I encourage you to look back on these notes every time you go to pick yourself apart again. Stay strong, stay beautiful, and keep loving yourself! And remember that you’re not perfect, and that’s okay, because you are forgiven. Sincerely, McKinnley ✨