My wife and I rarely watch something on television when it’s live, meaning we’re forever watching things on catch-up.
It’s great in a way because we get to binge watch stuff and watch it all together and all in one, the bad thing is, there’s so much good telly that we feel like we’re missing something.
The reason I say that is because as of writing this we’re currently catching up on some really good television – The Real Full Monty.
For those who haven’t watched it a number of celebrities gear themselves up to perform a full on strip show a la the 90s movie. The whole show was designed to encourage people to check their breasts or testicles for any signs of abnormality and get to their doctors before it’s too late.
Both shows have been real eye-openers and talked about some serious issues and despite being funny in places both the male and female shows have been powerful in their message.
These people have been through various journeys whether personally or through their families fighting the absolute arsehole that is cancer. If you haven’t seen the shows then you really should.
Despite making me grateful for my family and I’s health it was really powerful stuff. It also showed me something else that is important for a healthy life going forward – never judge a book by its cover.
I went into it thinking that a couple of the people in the show would be divas and would spoil the watching of it. What I saw however, was people who despite being confident and happy on the outside were vulnerable and scared of what others thought of them.
It got me thinking, who is really 100% comfortable with themselves? Me personally I have a lot of ‘hang-ups’. Am I boring? Am I too fat? Do people like me? Why did I just say that? I’m so aggressive, I didn’t mean to be and can people see my dead tooth? Plus so many more.
I go to work and I see wonderful people who are hung up on their weight, their looks and so much more and nine times out of 10 they are way off the mark with their negative views of themselves.
But why? Why do we strive for impossible perfection and why can’t we accept when we don’t fit society’s ridiculously high standards?
In my opinion it’s one of two big things. Firstly, we’re force fed images of perfection from celebrities, magazines and even our peers with pictures that took an hour and 100 different attempts to get right. We look at it and think it’s an attainable standard when in reality, it’s not reality.
Secondly, we go searching for thumbs-up and hearts on social media so that they can fuel our self-worth, because that’s the indicator of popularity and success after all.
One day maybe we’ll all realise, myself included, that everyone is different, everyone is amazing in their own way and everyone needs a thumbs up (a real one) every now and again.