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I was going to write blog post on my trip up to London with Prodirectrunning and Adidas but I wrote quite a bit on my post and thought you guys wouldn’t want to read it twice. There will be a post up in the next few weeks with the photos though. Today marks the end of mental health awareness week (or if you count Sunday as the first day of the week, then last week was mental health awareness week.) I thought I would talk about self-esteem and confidence as I feel it is something that people in today’s society lack. I have also just handed in my EPQ about exercise and mental health so I do know quite a lot about it now and find it interesting. It is scary how many people suffer from mental health issues at the moment, the lack of support in today’s society and the stigmas surrounding these diseases.
The ever growing social media platforms can promote messages of self-love and confidence but they can also be harmful and present unrealistic lifestyles. Some of my EPQ research was quite shocking with pro-anorexic sites and the statistics linked to poor mental health. “A trending hashtag on social media is #fitspo which presents ‘fit’ as being skinny, having visible abs and ‘eating healthily’ despite the ways in which people achieve this are dysfunctional and unhealthy. Visible abs are often ‘created’ by not eating enough and ‘eating healthily’ presents behaviours of orthorexia (an obsession with only eating ‘healthy’ foods). An article in The Guardian (Kiberd, 2015) describes Instagram as “a land of the hyper real, full of Photoshopped thigh gaps and waist trainers”.” This is an extract from my EPQ and although my blog is not academic but something I do for enjoyment, this is an issue that I think needs to be further addressed; from severe mental health problems to slight anxiety, low self-esteem and confidence, as well as the increase in eating disorders. All of which can lead to further issues. Speaking as a young person, the pressures put on us are tremendous and do not improve our confidence but increase our stress which in turn can lead to other problems in. I am not the best one to speak as I can get very stress and also don’t have the best self-esteem. I am very good at doubting myself but not believing in myself, both in races/sport and school work. I find it hard to think my effort is good enough, and no I am not writing this for any pity or anything like that but I think it is something that is felt by so many and it shouldn't be like that. One of the things that has helped me is surrounding myself with those who encourage me, who I can have a good laugh with as well as understand/relate to the bad times. I think learning to believe in yourself can be very difficult with ideals and goals but is so important to get the most out of the things you do and enjoy. Being proud and looking after yourself is not selfish and although boasting (in excess) can be arrogant you should be proud of your achievements; you have worked hard for it and you deserve it! One think I have 'learnt' over the past few months is just taking life as it comes; things will go wrong, don’t go the way you planned/wanted but it is the small things that matter. All the small things contribute to the big picture! Main message of this blog post:
* Stop comparing yourself to others. * Spend time with those who make you laugh and support you. * Spend less time trying to please others. * Spend more time doing the things you love. *Be proud of yourself! This blog post isn't very in depth but it is a topic I feel quiet strongly about (without sounding cringey), I hope it didn't bore you.
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