FAT Mermaid!

I wanted to write about my feelings about being fat. And no, I'm not putting myself down. I know that I am a beautiful, confident, sparkling mermaid. But there has been a lot of talk on Facebook and Mernetwork lately about people being put down for their weight. First, I want to make sure everyone understands that the size of your pants has NOTHING to do with how beautiful you are, regardless of what the media, or anyone else says. Everyone is beautiful and unique. Period. Second, I want to start this by telling everyone that I have struggled with my weight for years. I'm not here to tell you how to live your life, but I'm here to tell you about my experiences. Finally, I will tell you that I am a happy size 16. I don't care how you look at that number, and don't even bother to tell me that I need to change my body, because I'm happy and confident with who I am. And you aren't going to change that.  What I look like, how I eat, what I choose to do with my time, is none of your business. So please don't tell me what I can and cannot eat or how often I should exercise. It's my body and my life, and I will do with it as I please. If I want to eat cheeseburgers for breakfast and be a size 30, that's MY BUSINESS, NOT YOURS. I'm here to tell everyone that life is about loving yourself. Life is about living. And that everyone, I don't care who you are or what you look like, is BEAUTIFUL!

And I should probably warn that this will be long. I am very passionate about this subject, and I'm not about to hold it in. Read as much or as little as you'd like. But I hope that you all can take something out of this post.

I live by several mottos. The first is: "you choose to be offended". The reality is that you decide how you feel about what others say or think about you. They don't control your life, you do. And by becoming offended or hurt by a nasty comment only gives THEM control over YOU. And no one controls this mermaid but herself. Sure, I've had my fair share of stings, but I don't let them bother me. If someone else doesn't like the way you look, who cares!? Their negative comments aren't necessarily about you. What's likely happening is that they lack self-confidence and are jealous because you are gorgeous and confident and don't give a shit about what anybody else thinks. Chances are they are putting you down so they can feel better about themselves. How do I know this? BECAUSE I WAS THAT GIRL! There was a time in my life when I was thin and always criticizing myself...and then I realized that I was jealous of all these gorgeous girls that weren't afraid to be who they are. So I let that jealousy go. I started to build myself up in a positive manner, and I realized that I was the one that was wrong. And my life and perspective has completely changed.

That leads me to my second belief. "It's none of your business what other people think about you". It sounds a little harsh, but it's true. On that same note, as long as you're not hurting anyone, it's nobody's business what you choose to do with your life, or how you feel about yourself, or what you look like. But ultimately, who cares what other people think? Spend your life doing what you love, and what makes you happy, not about worrying about what some stranger thinks about you. You'll probably never encounter them again in your life anyway.

My late father used to always say, "You have to be crazy in order to fight with a crazy person." So I don't bother arguing with people that just want to put me down. There's no reason to fight with them. Seriously. If they don't think you are unique and beautiful, than they are crazy, because you are. I don't care what the media/health freaks/doctors/magazines/pant size says.

Finally, remember that "you have to live with yourself everyday, so why not love yourself?" Truly though, there's no reason to hate yourself or put yourself down. Sure, you can always better yourself. If you want to be thinner or healthier by all means do so, but DON'T do it with the mindset of "this doesn't taste as good as thin feels" or "if I lose a few more pounds, then I will be pretty". Because that's all a bunch of baloney. Put yourself first. Love yourself. You have to see yourself and live with yourself and interact with yourself EVERYDAY there's no going around that fact. So while you are at it? Learn to love yourself. One of my favorite quotes is from RuPaul, and he says, "If you can't learn to love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else!". And it's true. Think about the person you love the most, you can't really love them as much as they deserve to be loved until you learn to love yourself first. I promise, that learning to love yourself with be the affair of a lifetime.

I hope that my words have angered and inspired you. I hope that you can read this and change your perspective on yourself and on your life. I will say it one more time. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!