None
In a society that tells women they’re never good enough as they are and that they’re only valuable if they can fit into the confines of a very narrow beauty standard, overcoming a negative body image is a challenging journey that’s unfortunately all too common. Everyone deserves to love their body, and having been through the throes of low self-esteem myself, I know one thing for sure: You’ll never learn to love your body unless you come do chores around my yard.
I get it. These impossible beauty standards make you think you’re not pretty, but you’ll realize you’re dead wrong once you’re sitting on my riding lawn mower, mowing my yard end to end, making sure to pay close attention near the sides of my above-ground pool. If you were just to pull the weeds off the back patio and replace the bulb in the outdoor light, you’d come to see that you’re beautiful just the way you are, and, hey—you’ll probably feel so empowered that you’ll want to water the gardenias in my hanging planters, too.
Think of it this way: Sure, you could spend another day indoors, staring at yourself in the mirror, searching for flaws to obsess over. Now, wouldn’t you rather be power-washing my siding? There’s only one way to find out, and the siding’s looking pretty grimy, so it’d be great if you could come over today.
Maybe you’re insecure about your body size, but in my yard, there’s no need for those kind of thoughts: I’ve got a ladder, so no matter if you’re short or tall, petite or plus, you’re reaching my gutters, no problem. As soon as you repaint my fence and fix the latch that my kid accidentally broke off, your body image concerns will be a thing of the past.
So what if you don’t look like the stick-thin supermodels you see on TV? You’re the one who’s going to put air in my Honda’s tires, and anyone who would do something like that is definitely beautiful.
If you’re not feeling the self-love after you’ve finished the yard, there’s no need to panic. Our culture embeds these toxic beauty ideals in us from a young age, and there are a lot of chores to be done around my house. In that case, just pack up your tool belt and come into the kitchen because I’m confident that greasing up the cabinet drawers will definitely do the trick. Believe me, as you look up at the crown molding that you put around my ceiling all by yourself, you’ll be pretty happy to realize that your body is beautiful, inside and out.
