Missed Photo Opps

By Mashaka Williams

Coming out of the slump

 

In planning my 40^th birthday celebration and looking for pictures of myself, I realized that there was a period of time that I did not take any pictures of myself. And I thought to myself if it is just me or are there other women out there that did not like how they looked and refused to take pictures.

I think that it is sad to know that the reason I did not take any pictures was because I felt chubby and did not want my old school mates to see me looking a little plumper than they probably remembered me. But the more I thought about it the more I had to be honest. I did not want to think about people saying that about me because I have done it.

Society is as such that we look at pictures of the people we knew and comment on them. We would say both good and bad. It is not always done in a malicious way, but it was done. And it is because of my own self I hid the reality of how I felt about myself.

The funny thing is now when I look pictures of people who gained weight I look at the picture to observe if they are happy. Rather than if they are skinny, fat, or the same. I think we need to really enjoy ourselves at each stage. So I am upset that I don’t have those chubby pictures of myself because I missed out on some photo opportunities with my kids.

So if you are doing what I did, don’t feel bad you’re not alone. However I do encourage you do take those pics and be happy. At the end of the day we only have one life and there are greater struggles in life than being a little fatter (there I said it) than we want to be.

 

Have a great day,

Shak