On Body Image

I, like the vast majority of those who have grown up in image-conscious societies I'm sure, also from time to time struggle with poor perceptions of my own body image. It's a particularly poignant topic for me since for as long as I can remember my supreme endeavor has been to develop ways of improving all aspects of my life and my being through the well of determination and worth that comes from within. So when it comes to the way I look at my physical self, I am placed on this kind of battlefield fighting against the more self-deprecating voices in my head. I look at myself and think, "Oh, I am too fat", or "Oh, I don't like the shape of this or the shape of that". It is a battle against myself. And what strikes me is that body image is, perhaps strangely, a concept that I can use to truly learn to believe in the better parts of who I am as a person and an individual. If I can source strength from within myself—if I can buttress my self-esteem in the most shit of moments—then I have learnt something valuable; then I have inched just a little closer to developing my own self-worth. It's one skirmish at a time in an ongoing war, but one a skirmish at a time is all I need.