I watched a very interesting podcast by the wonderful Ariel of Icon For Hire yesterday, and it got me thinking. She raises really good points about why we do what we do on a daily basis - why do we change our hair, why do we dress the way we do, why do we change our appearance? The podcast itself is really worth a listen, Ariel really hits the nail about the subject.

It got me thinking about my own decisions, both past and present. I used to dress myself in dark and baggy clothes, I wanted to hide from the world and blend in. I had no confidence to wear anything else, as I'd hear nasty comments about my body and overall appearance if I did. In a way my appearance reflected the way I felt inside.


It took me several years to stop giving a damn about what everyone else thought about me. People telling me what they thought about me was a part of my daily life for a very long time, so no wonder I started taking every negative comment to heart. It actually took as much as moving to a different country to start the healing process. Looking back to it all now makes me quite proud of myself - I managed to put up with all that negativity and nasty comments for such a long time without giving up, and that's made me a stronger person. I've got such a thick skin now, silly comments made by completely irrelevant people mainly makes me laugh now.

And believe me, learning to ignore all this crap wasn't easy. To be able to accept myself was the very first thing I did, and after that it's been a very smooth ride. You don't need to be accepted by everyone and do things that every single person you talk to will approve of, it's your life and you make the decisions about it, not someone else with a different opinion.


The same goes with fitness. People have different ideal bodies, and bashing someone just because they are aiming for their own dream body is just mad. Someone might want 10% bodyfat and massive muscles, while their friend might be looking to tone up and stick to 20%. Two completely different people, two completely different ideals.

It's about what I want. I want to be healthy. I want to be able to wear whatever I want. I want to tone up. I want to be confident. It's all about me, there's no room for everybody else. Hell yes I will walk out of the door with my World of Warcraft shirt on, because it's my life and I'm the only one who should have any say in it.

Don't give up on your own dreams just because someone doesn't like it.