I hear this question a lot well I don’t, I hear the answer to the question. “I’m too fat”, “I look like a fool”, “my face is too red” or “everyone will be watching me’.
But I wonder how many of us have considered that other peoples opinion of us is actually none of our business. It’s their opinion, it’s not the truth and you don’t actually even know what they’re thinking. It’s funny really when you think about it, well it’s not, it’s sad, the number of people that allow that opinion to stop them doing what they want to.
I was, I am one of ‘those’ people too. I’ve worried about my friends judging me for being too clumsy on my board, I’ve sped up while running past acquaintances and I’ve felt judged by complete strangers on the internet. And, I don’t know how many times, I’ve justified my weight to people by talking about the activity I do. My point is, I am far from immune from feeling this way and for a long time it stopped me pushing myself.
Do you know what helped?
I found freedom in the fact that nobody is
think about you (or me)!
It brought me so much perspective when I realised that, I was the only one who was thinking and judging myself against impossible standards. I would never speak to my friend or anyone on the street like that, so why was I doing it to myself.
When that woman ran past me with a red face, I thought ‘wow, I wish I had the motivation to run today and looked that strong doing it’. When I watched someone wobbling on their board, I thought ‘Go you for giving it a try’ and well, I’ve never though ‘ooo why is she doing ___’ and judged someone for the way their body looks when it’s moving.
So, I’d like to take the pleasure in telling you, no one is thinking about you the way you are. They’re not worried about the way you look, in fact you might just be inspiring someone to try something new because turning up is SO IMPORTANT. If you don’t see other people who look like you – do it anyway!
Oh and to that very small minority (I mean tiny) who might judge… why does it matter?
Don’t let it get to you, their opinion doesn’t matter, its a projection of their own insecurities and only you know the real truth. Self-validation comes from self-acceptance and that’s so powerful to understand because YOU hold the power.
We only have one life, it’s not long enough, so don’t let the way you ‘think’ you look stop you from living the best life for you. It only takes a moment of fearlessness to make a change.
Plus Size Paddler 