There are a lot of moments that are like epiphanies. Some of them are true. Others leave you empty inside when you realize that it was all a sham.
For some people, the this has to do with body image and how they want to improve. To be come a perfect ten, no matter how obscene that is, and impossible to achieve.
With that being said, I have to say, their is nothing adherent or wrong with the desire to improve yourself, nor does it have to lead to unhappiness.
This is where I will share something with you that left me miserable for years. I was very unhappy as a teenager, and while you say that many teens are unhappy, my unhappiness lasted into my early 20’s, in part due to a terrible family life.
Marriage seemed like the answer.
Somebody to love me for me.
But it was a bad marriage.
This was a major backfire.
At least that is how they felt at the time. Little did I know that those things were actually triggers, they helped me become who I am now, a person that is happy with who she is. Happy to see areas that are open for self improvement. Not because I am looking for validation from outside of my person, but because I as a person have become aware of them and want to change them for my self.
And here is the thing, with this motivation I have gotten past the unhappy parts. The pieces of my psyche that look back and say: “yah, but,” now I happy most of the time but when I’m not I know that I can just laugh, and together with myself I can also get over it.
What does that mean?
Well, with that being said, I still always strive for more. Why shouldn’t I? Do I not deserve it? If I didn’t I wouldn’t be true to who I am.
I realize now that does in fact make me content.
They say that ignorance is bliss, but that same pot can also begin to boil and guess what?
Your insides are as fragile as a frog.
When I have the choice I prefer to not be ignorant.
Instead I want to be aware of every single one of my disadvantages, this is a strength, and then I do my very best, within reason of course, to improve them.
None of them are cosmetic. A beautiful facade is still a facade no matter how you care for it. But then you knew that.
Of course I don’t think that one day I will be perfect. Perfection is subjective, and if it wasn’t, if it would be obtainable, it would be impossible to maintain. Nothing is perfect.
Rather I strive to understand, to develop, this is a very fast process when you understand that tomorrow, next week, or next year you will be more mature/developed than you are today.
Also as a nice side effect, this line of reasoning combined with self confidence is an amazing tool that will help you in your profession and your relationships. For me the trigger was a divorce from a shitty husband. Thank God we left it without children. Though The Sims helped me there.
I am sure for everyone it’s different.