Why I don't hate my body anymore

This picture was taken for the sole purpose of seeing how a new pair of jeans looked on me.  Not intended for anyone to see, but today I was thinking about body image (again- I know) and how angry it makes me that we allow society to tell us whether or not we are beautiful based on the size of our hips, waist, bust, etc, and each one's proportion the other.  So I'm showing this because I'm not ashamed of my body.

Why don't I buy into that crap anymore?  Well, I'll tell you.  It makes me depressed, angry, self-hating, sad.  When I start to focus on my body and what I can "fix" about it, then I begin to see more and more things that I hate about it.  I've realized that I can choose to love my body.  It doesn't mean I think it's perfect, because it isn't.  It doesn't mean I eat whatever the hell I want (although most people who know me well, know that I choose not to diet either) and not care at all what I look like.

I do care about what I look like and how I present myself to the world.  But I do it in a way that I am happy with.  I don't need to be a size 6 for a man, for my parents, for my friends, or my sisters.  I don't need to prove to anyone else that I can "be something" by forcing my body to fit a specific standard.

I've been told with my height, this is easier for me to do than others.  And maybe that's true.  But I would argue that being tall is, in and of itself, an entirely separate issue that has nothing to do with my size or shape (and at times adds to body insecurity).

I don't owe it to anyone to look a certain way, or be a certain way.  I do owe it to myself to love me.  And to treat my body well and take care of it.  And I do.  I may not be a marathon runner or the most in shape person of the year, and I know that's something I need to work on for me.  But I love myself, my body, and the things that it can do.  To any of the ladies (or guys) reading this, try doing the same for yourself.