Kaja

I've always dealt with my body a lot – I've been exercising, loved dressing up and even done some modelling. Even though I never thought something was missing on my body when I was younger, I’ve heard a lot of nasty comments regarding the way I look. I was too skinny for some people, my shoulders were to broad for others, I didn’t have curves and my boobs were too little … It didn’t get to me at first, but with (social) media expanding and being exposed to all the ‘perfect bodies’, I started noticing a lot of things I disliked about myself. I became obsessed with exercising, eating clean and rubbing anti-cellulite creams into my skin. Despite all the effort, I still wasn’t quite confident and satisfied with myself. I always found something to improve. I soon realized, my goal shouldn’t be a certain look, but satisfaction and accepting myself. There will always be something we will dislike and want to change. We will never reach the unrealistic standards, set by the media. Trying to change the nature is pointless – we get older, get wrinkles, cellulite and stretch marks. We will never reach the true satisfaction with always changing ourselves, but with learning how to love and accept our self, our body. Accepting one self means loving unconditionally, despite a bloated belly, new wrinkle, stretch mark or more cellulite. I wish we didn’t judge each other based on how we look, because we’re so much more than our appearance. It’s not the size that’s important, it’s how we act, what are our goals and the relationship we have to the world.

I am all women with cellulite. I got it at a very young age and I always hated it. I always tried to fight it, I was ashamed of it and tried to hide it as much as I could. It’s funny how the more I tried to fight it, the more persistent it was. I ate healthy, worked out and took care of my body, but my ‘enemy’ was still there. But then I learned it would be easier if I just accept it. Maybe it’s not my enemy, but my teacher - maybe it’s trying to teach me how to embrace my flaws. Of course I would prefer not to have it, but I don’t want to hide it anymore, because it is a part of me. It’s a part of me as much as any ‘good part’ of my body. They are all here for a reason, they remind me that I am a woman, a human – just like everyone else.