4.13.2011

A Little Follow-Through

For almost a year now, I've been contributing articles to local teen magazines. I never really thought I'd be doing it, but I find myself enjoying coming up with possible problems that young girls might face in their daily lives and giving out helpful tips to solve them: What do I do when I find myself face-to-face with my crush? How do I ask a guy out without seeming too forward? Why won't my parents cut me some slack? How do I balance my time between school and friends? 


It's surprisingly fun to think up these things and to point the way. It's fulfilling to know that in my own little way I'm helping kids and teenagers deal with the things that stress them out. 


But here's my problem: how do I take my own advice? 


"Practice what you preach," isn't that the old maxim? Well it turns out another one is, "Easier said than done." While I've outgrown some of the issues that these magazines deal with--stuff like acne and grades and unfair teachers and all that--there are some things that few people ever really outgrow.


Like body image issues. I don't know about you guys, but I sure haven't outgrown those. I've been putting in some fair hours at the gym recently, and it's not just for my overall health: I'm definitely being vain about it. I don't always feel good when I look at the mirror. There is a long list of things I'd like to change about myself, and I think a lot of people feel the same way.


Now I've written and published my advice about this. Heck, I've listed down, several times, what you're supposed to think and do to feel better about yourself and your body: We're all shaped differently. We're all beautiful in our own way. We have to focus on what's positive about who we are, not what's negative. We need to eat right, pamper ourselves once in a while, exercise. And on and on.


I realize, though, that while it can be hard to follow someone else's advice, it's twice as hard to follow your own. And neither is it just with body image--I've written articles about money management (which I'm not particularly awesome at), job interviews, and awkward situations, and I find myself laughing at the ideas I come up with, because I realize that dude, I know what to do to make myself better. Hell, my advice is good. I just have to grit my teeth and do it, too.


I don't want to be a hypocrite, you know? There are too many of those out there in the world already. Now if only someone knew the secret to avoiding that...

7 comments:

  1. Well, there are always two ways to think about it:

    You can either give advice and have to follow it to avoid being a hypocrite, or you can say that you're in a good position to give said advice because you know what it's like not to follow it, and you can say for sure that that's something other people wouldn't want to do.

    -X

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  2. As the GI Joe TVCs once said "Knowing is half the battle"...while a 900-year old little green master added "do or do not, there is no try".

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  3. I had the same problem! What my friend told me is that what matters is that I struggle as well! I mean, if I know what my friend and I should do and we're both stuck in a rut or something, I should struggle myself and help her out. I shouldn't have to wait until I'm out of the rut before I help her out. We struggle together.

    If I'm not struggling, then I guess that's when I'm a hypocrite. :)

    You have image issues? Noooo. You're already so pretty. Sometimes YOU make me feel image conscious. Haha. And think about it, Candy and Meg wouldn't put you on their covers if you weren't pretty. And it takes a lot of prettiness to make it to magazine covers! I wish I were that pretty! :D

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  4. Just be honest with what you write
    And try to follow what you advise
    just picture yourself what you would do
    if you are in that certain situation



    And Ms Je you don't have to have a Solenn Heusaff body to be pretty and sexy, living eating and breathing healthy is enough.......
    Also real sexiness is not only in the physical
    level.

    See there are girls who have super pretty faces and super model bodies but don't have the intelligence and the personality that you possess add to that the pretty cute face that the fans love...

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  5. I want to land in a writing job like yours in the future. :)

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  6. Simple advice: look at the Nike ad.

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  7. Yes, we are all beautiful i our own way. Just smile and stay healthy. Anyway, you do be lovely. What on earth you're caring about your appearance, dear.

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