Thoughts and Pictures

Where does our expectation come from? The main character of our favorite TV show? The girl on the cover of Seventeen Magazine? Last season's winner of America’s Next Top Model?

Everyone sets their own level of expectation, but the idea for level standards comes from external sources. Without TV, movies, magazines and the internet how would be know what society’s version of beautiful looks like? 

You choose what beautiful means. Don’t allow media to provide you with an unrealistic standard to set your expectations to.

Photoshop is so accessible it can be used on a smartphone. The images we view online, on TV, in magazines, etc are all enhanced in one way or another. Your reality cannot compete with the fantasy world presented via media around you. And it shouldn’t have to. Sitting on the couch in sweats I will never look like Angelina Jolie walking down the red carpet. The media doesn’t show celebrities in their natural states because that ruins the illusion. We like to think celebrities wake up every morning looking like a million bucks. They don’t. Yet we expect ourselves to do what we, deep down, know professional models can’t even do.

A compliment will never be accepted unless you, in your heart, believe it. You are your own worst critic. Instead of looking in the mirror and focusing on areas you want to change, look yourself in the eye and say something positive. A heart at peace with itself yields an attractive person. Happiness is contagious and can only be reached when one sets and meets realistic expectations. To be healthy is an honorable goal. To look like a specific person is not an honorable goal because it shows your lack of confidence in yourself and your lack of reality. Everyone is made differently, thus extreme diets and workout plans will never result in you waking up looking like a specific person or ideal body.

Feel free to share your thoughts on these quotes and photos with us in the comments below.