Is it Really Worth It?
May 26th 2008
Is it really worth thinking about what others say about you? There are so many people who are constantly wondering what others might think of them. What if I look like a fool? What if they think I’m stupid? What will they say about me?
But are all these things necessary?? Does it really matter what they say about you? I mean, I don’t think it’s necessary. I think it’s a complete waste of time. I say as long as you are happy, then you shouldn’t worry about what others say about you. Don’t you agree? It’s not only a waste of time, but also a waste of energy to ruminate about those things. But, then again, do I really have to right to say this? Not until recently, I was always stressed out and always cared about what other people might think of me. Now, I don’t anymore. I just say “so what?”
Girls who persistently get upset about their appearances should learn more about this. I think it is natural for everyone to want to look good all the time. However, there are those who think skinny is beautiful, and that you must be a certain weight (no matter how tall you are) to be considered skinny. I think this is absolutely absurd. People should become more aware of the fact that healthy is beautiful, not skinny is beautiful. So many teenage girls all around the world are doing everything they can to lose weight and fit into certain size jeans. Is it really worth it? Is someone going to like you or dislike you because of your weight? (Actually, there are some nasty girls out there who judge people this way, but … that’s not my point.) Why is it that so many girls are self-conscious of their weight?
In Korea, everyone is dying to be more than average height and weigh less than the average weight. Why? Because they want to be skinny. This has really been bothering me lately. The way I see it, in the States, you can still be “big” and be beautiful. This is hard to describe. By “big” I mean healthy, not someone who is bone skinny. Because you can still be average and people will call you fat or chubby in Korea. Why? I do not know, and I can’t figure it out. I think it may be because the definition of skinny is becoming more and more ‘narrower’. It’s fine to want to lose a couple of pounds to look more fit, but becoming anorexic and bone skinny is not pretty. And all this does is pressure others to be skinny.
Anorexia and bulimia are all eating disorders as a result of a strong desire to lose weight. It may seem like something that happens when girls don’t eat or pretend to eat and lose weight. That’s not all.
Starvation, vomiting, extreme exercise, or intake of diet pills are all ways that lead to anorexia. For those of you who may be confused about whether someone has anorexia or not, the symptoms are:
1. refusing to be at or above the normal body weight for age and height
2. fear of gaining weight or becoming obese
3. troubled by the way they look, and denial or their extremely low body weight
4. the absence of at least 3 menstrual periods (for women)
5. eating disorders
As the media often portrays, people suffering from anorexia vomit the food they eat (self-induced vomiting).
Some side effects of this are:
- extreme weight loss
- thinning of the hair
- constipation
- weakening of bones & joints
- brittle fingernails
Along with these, there are also psychological, behavioral, and emotional side effects.
With the media constantly portraying models or actresses that are way below their average weight, this only pressure teenage girls even more to become thin.
It is just viewed as a eating disorder. I don’t think people realize how serious this is and how important it is not to be engaged in anything related to this. It affects your whole life. You will not be able to function as well as before, and may not be able to play sports that you enjoyed playing with friends before. So this is why I began to think.. is it really worth risking your life and putting your life to threat? Is it really worth it?
for additional information:
http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anorexia_signs_symptoms_causes_treatment.htm
http://blogcritics.org/archives/2005/07/09/061238.php