They say pictures depict a thousand words, and its true but not all words that are expressed in those pictures are accurate. The past few months have been hard and equally draining that it got me wondering. Why do I rely so heavily on pictures to tell me how I should look and feel?

Sure the picture depicts something but definitely not everything. Haven’t social media taught us anything? Before that one perfect selfie is posted on instagram, there are 200 over rejected selfies in our photo gallery. That one perfect shot of my morning espresso and eggs benny did not really express how tasty it really was, I just gave you an emoji with a tongue out. Outside the borders of these pictures, is a whole entire universe. Paris do not just have the Eiffel tower or pretty looking macaroons. The United States do not just have Los Angeles / New York and China definitely do not even have Singapore. Yes, Singapore is not in China. What I’m trying to say here is that we should not rely so heavily on these pictures on how we should lead our lives and I am guilty of it.

I was looking back at old selfies of my body’s transformation through the past 2 years and I felt nothing but depression, I look at my body and saw how muscular I look now, my arms are no longer slender, just standing in heels, my muscle definition is so obvious, I no longer look dainty and fragile, I actually look strong. I no longer have skinny abs, but actual abs that can actually hold my overhead squat position. You must be wondering that I’m crazy.

I allowed those pictures of supermodel to tell me how I should look like, that my thighs are too big, my arms are too muscular, my abs should be more defined and my waist should be smaller. I allowed the social norms to get to me, that woman do not lift and that woman should be slim, tall and never break a sweat. I want to look like something I know I can never achieve and you want to know why? Because I am not loving myself the way I am. The only way to achieve whatever the heart desires, I must first learn how to love this same-old-everyday-imperfect self, that it is okay to look different because what matters is that we should not be so hard on ourselves.

At the end of the day, we have to remember that we are only humans, it does not matter what gender you are. We are humans and we need to love ourselves first before anyone can love us. Don’t let society get the better of you. You deserve much more than that.

I Am Human and #iloveme

XO!