Some of you may know, if you've read this site before, that I grew up in a single-parent home where my mother often worked two, sometimes three, jobs to make ends meet. And though she made sure I never wanted for anything, I always looked at the other more privileged girls in high school and college and felt like I could never compete with their beauty or sense of style.
As a result of that insecurity, the early seeds of my need to exercise were planted because I figured what I lacked in beauty, I could make up for in body, and that would allow me to "compete" with those girls a bit more.
Don't even ask what stilted level of logic it took for me to believe that nonsense because even as I typed it I was shaking my head.
Nowadays, though, when I see beautifully fit women—especially those in the non-airbrushed real world—who have managed to remain absolutely stunning through marriage, pregnancy, stress, etc., I applaud them because I know how much hard work it requires to remain true to any sort of regimen when life is throwing so many responsibilities your way.
And while I still compare myself to other women, I can't lie,—I mean it's the nature of the beast to look at another gorgeous woman and say 'wow, I still have work to do',—my reaction to them is less about an insecurity than it is an acknowledgement that there is always another level for me to meet.
In short, I don't bother with the catty, sneering, unnecessary behavior that so many others often feel the need to convey by chopping down other women and accusing them of "thinking they're all that". It's unproductive and would only serve as interference to my personal fitness goals.
We are all uniquely striving for something more than the mirror reflects and if we're doing it the right way, there won't be a need to wonder what everyone else is thinking because that won't matter. If nothing else, stick to you plan and keeping doing you. And let the progress you make be a form of motivation for that woman who's likely watching you and wondering where her next level might be because, trust me, there will always be someone watching.
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