This is a contribution by Guest Blogger Simone Kelly.
“Be Yourself, Everyone else is taken,” kinda sassy …and very true! It’s one of my favorite quotes by writer, Oscar Wilde.
What is it about us human beings? We can never be satisfied with who we truly are, huh? This past Saturday afternoon, after being exhausted from ‘playing’ in my garden, I decided to veg out. I was flipping through channels and saw some very interesting commercials that inspired me to poke fun at us…yes, us never satisfied humans. LOL.
What sparked it all was when I saw an infomercial for a tanning spray and the spokeswoman said something like, “You know how pale you can get in those summer months! Just use this mitt and rub the color on in!”
I just had to chuckle to myself because, some lighter people want to be darker and then some darker people want to use fading cream. Go figure! I used the word “SOME” very strongly here.
Then, two channels up was one of those body slimmer undergarment infomercials. The woman that tried it on lost 10 inches on her waist and dare I say…looked amazing. Hey, incredible product! Nice to put on to smooth out a tight dress. But…but…my only issue is what happens when the lights go out and that magic body slimmin’ elastic comes off! ~Comedic drum roll~ Yeah, I went there! ~a-hem~ I’m just saying! You can run but you can’t hide it forever.
Which leads me to another incident…On Monday, I was at my boxing gym and I had a voluptuous classmate who looked in the mirror and scoffed at her hips and rear end and said, “I can’t wait to get like that!” Nodding towards her petite friend doing her hair. Between you and me, I wanted to give her friend some food, poor thing looked hungry.
I looked at Ms. Volumptuous and smiled, “You know people down here in Miami are PAYING to get what you have!” (Referring to derrière plastic surgery). We laughed and she agreed. I made her smile and yes, I made her think …just a tad.
A few months ago when I wore my hair straight, I had no idea what a big deal it would be. Talk about a social experiment! I just wanted to trim my hair and get a change. Boy, was in for a surprise! All of my white and Latina friends said they preferred it big and curly. A few of my African American friends who never saw it straight raved about it and we’re shocked that I did it and thought it was permanent again. The kicker was when I passed an older African American lady in my neighborhood that I see every day, she said, “I like your hair better this way! You should keep it like that. That other way…” She shook her head like it disgusted her.
I felt compelled to tell her that it’s sad that many of “us” have issues with how we REALLY look and don’t love ourselves. I told her that many other races complimented my hair “THE OTHER WAY”—the way I was born by the way. Okay, okay so I’m not really a red head, but you get the point! LOL I mentioned it’s sad that society has brainwashed many of us into not loving ourselves. I could have went on a big soap box and continued, but I left it at that. ~Stepping down now as well.~
It’s amazing how many of us are not happy with who we are… Yes, there’s always room for improvement, but just take some time today, no matter who you are and where you are in your life and feel good about it. Be yourself, because it’s the only self you got! 🙂 All the others are taken!
As they say…The grass ain’t always greener on the other side. So love yourself, hug yourself, and how could I forget… OWN YOUR POWER!
Originally published here.