My girl Jessica here wanted one of our new crop sweatshirts at my gym and was going back and forth over it. Her sister and I told her to try it on and she did and although still insecure about parts of her body she’s still working on…you could tell she loved it. She looks at me and says “will other people judge me if I wear this?” I said “who cares.” And she replied “I DO!” I said “why?” And replies “I dunno, I just do.” Here’s the thing….if you live your life based on other people’s opinions….you’ll always be unhappy & unfulfilled in some way. You don’t wear what you want to wear because other people may judge. You don’t say the things you want to say because you’re unsure how people will respond. You act a certain way in front of people incase they don’t like the real you. You are living based on other people’s opinions and expectations and therefore you never truly know who you are and that can be exhausting and leave you feeling empty putting so much work into being someone you’re not….a lesser version of you…someone you think they would approve of. When I quit being what I thought people wanted me to be and started being who I truly was, Life got a whole lot better…. I found who I was and from there, realized what I was meant for. I liked myself again because I wasn’t trying to live for other people’s approval anymore. When you sit back and realize how much judgement is out there it’s exhausting and who are they to you? No one. So their judgments are none of your business. And the people that you surround yourself with if they truly are meant to be in your life, will do nothing but want to see you flourish and applaud you regularly. They won’t care about the clothes you wear, they only care about the person wearing them. Judgement is every where. When I was 200lbs people judged, when I was an alcoholic people judged, when I got sober my enablers judged. People judge who I am today….she cusses too much…she’s aggressive, she’s too intense, she’s always showing off her abs….so you see? Nothing is ever good enough for society. I’m not going to water myself down to make other people comfortable…I’m not going to live unsatisfied so others can be satisfied…I’m not going to live my life being half of who I am….and neither should you. Needless to say….she bought the sweatshirt and rocks it with confidence and I couldn’t be more proud of her. Do what you want, wear what you want, and say what you want. Be unapologetically authentic because as they say “those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”
Iron & Grit 