How do I look? This is a question almost everyone has asked at one time or the other, perhaps standing in front of a glass mirror or relying on the opinions of others to reach conclusions about our appearance.Why do we care about how we look? Should we even care at all? When is it moderate? When does it become a bit too much?
Why Do We Care?
We do because we are sentient beings. This means that we are sensitive to our surroundings, and conscious of our existence as well as the existence of others. It is this self-awareness in relation to others that makes us care. Also, humans are social; hence we also care about how others perceive us, what they think of us, if we are making a good impression, if we will be accepted, and all such matters.
Should We Even Care At All?
To a reasonable degree, a feeling of social acceptance is healthy. So, who do we look to for acceptance? Among teenagers, and even adults; this is usually the celebrities and glamour models who are famous and whose lives we adore. It is not strange to find young people looking longingly at the superslim bodies of fashion models; or the athletic, buff ones of sportsmen and fitness models. These are usually the body models we seek to become, and the ones that society and the media tell us is acceptable.
When Is It Moderate?
So if one does not look like these people, he begins to become obsessed with what he doesn’t like. Oh! I wish I were as thin as Model A, that my face was as pretty, and my clothes would fit just as perfectly as Model B. For others, they may want to have bulging biceps like Actor X, or a rocking 6-Pack body like Sportsman Y.
This may move them to diet or exercise even more, just so they can get close to their dream body image. That by itself is not bad; a fair deal of exercise and healthy eating is important for the body, but it is possible to take something as harmless as this too far. How?
When Does It Become A Bit Too Much?
When you begin to feel bad about yourself for not looking a certain way. When all you focus on are your imperfections -comparing your weaknesses to another person’s strengths! -, and you begin to lose sight of the really wonderful things about yourself. When you do not take care, nor take the time to work on your inner qualities, the real you – the person you are on the inside, or when you put your life at risk. Then your quest to have a beautiful appearance, to be socially accepted becomes shallow. That’s when it becomes too much.
It is important to maintain a healthy balance between how we look, and how others want us to look. Their rules are not written in stone, and no one made them an appearance judge. Besides, genes also play a major role in determining how we look, and those models often go to great extremes to pull off that body you see.
You are not them, and shouldn’t want to be. Regular exercise, and a healthy diet should do you just fine.
