What's Mine isn't Yours

So many of you know ,and a lot of you will soon find out, that I've started a show through my Instagram account called "A Word with Ang".

The show is basically an extension of this platform where I chit chat about various topics!

The latest episode of "A Word with Ang" was on the topic of Body Positivity!

A shaky subject for many, myself included, but I knew it was a topic that needed to be covered, for you guys and for myself.

Within this episode, I spoke about my personal journey with self love and self acceptance and I'm so glad I was able to connect with so many of you through my story.

You guys talked about your own journeys to self acceptance and it truly warmed my heart to have been heard and related to in such magnitude.

You guys reminded me of the real reason I started "A Word"...

All that gushiness aside, with all of the responses received from the episode I received a ton of similar messages that I wasn't quite sure how to respond to.

A lot of you were surprised that I had a body positivity story to even speak on which is flattering but unrealistic. I received a lot of "you're out of your mind" "you look fine" and "if you're struggling, how do you think I feel" comments.

Knowing a lot of you, I know these comments didn't come from a harmful place. But what a lot of you don't realize is how insensitive those comments can be to someone working on healing and growing. Your compliments shouldn't be dismissive or self deprecating.

We've all heard the phrase "you never truly know what someone is going through" and that is something I try to keep with me when addressing anything involving others. Personally, people have had an idea of who I am and what my story should be based on what I allow you all to see and hear. We all know there are hidden layers to everyone. There isn't one person alive that is presenting their true self to the world; we all have a mask and they all have their own elaborations.

In regards to the topic, those comments pushed a button inside of me that made me feel guilty in a way for speaking my truth. Maybe I'm wrong to feel the way I've felt about myself, maybe I don't have the right based on the experiences of other's that appear to be way worse than mine. But in reality I have a right to feel everything based on my own experiences.

I too am guilty of dismissing the journeys of others as less than based on my own experiences and my perception of that person. The idea to even record the Body Positivity episode came from me listening to my favorite podcast "Okay, Now Listen" with Scottie Beam and Sylvia Obell as hosts. They recorded an episode speaking on their own struggles with self love and acceptance. I listened to two women I've grown to admire through their work speak about how they've felt and how they currently feel about themselves and their bodies and was in complete disbelief! Hell, Scottie Beam was on my 2021 mood board for my fitness goals, she couldn't possibly be in the same place I am! But in stepping back and looking at these two women as the real people they are, I was able to understand that we are all struggling with SOMETHING despite public perception.

So I say all of this to say, I will continue to use my platforms as a way to speak up for all of us because that is the reason I started doing what I do. I want to bring light to subjects often unspoken about and to let you all know that our stories may not be the same but theres something within everyone's life that another person can relate to in some fashion.

I know absolutely none of us are perfect and we're battling the worst of ourselves every day but the comparisons have to come to an abrupt halt.

Today's word is individual: (adj.) of or for a particular person; (noun) a single human being as distinct from a group.

Your story is always going to be unique to you as an individual so what good are we doing comparing it to the stories of others? Public perception is just that, and you're 1000% valid in your sharing of your story at whatever pace you set.