Isabela: Learning to Love Myself
This Valentines day we are highlighting an important form of love that often gets overlooked - self love! Isabela had spent her life being told not to love her body, that there was something wrong with it because she didn’t look like the girls from TV. After joining the SRLA Team at HTPA, Isabela realized that her body was worth so much more than how it looked in the mirror…
Being a teenager, especially a female, I have definitely been made aware of society’s opinions on appearances. It is everywhere from Vogue magazine’s models to TMZ’s snarky comments about a celebrity weight gain. This has wired me to become hyper-aware of my appearances and others judgments. This was part of the reason I joined SRLA to begin with, I wanted to finally fit society’s criteria on how I should look like. It was the perfect activity to accomplish my goal since cardio is best for losing body fat and gain those perfectly toned legs that every model has. So off I went and joined the team.
Isabela and a teammate at an SRLA practice
For the first few months I only had one goal, to finally have the body I wanted, and I worked hard for it. I ran the mandatory three days a week and didn’t miss any Saturday runs. I even kept track of my miles on several apps, and purchased a solid pair of running shoes. I was fueled by one thing, misguided determination. However, it became apparent to me that I was the only one who thought this way. I looked at my fellow teammates and running partners and saw that they didn’t run to please others, they only ran for themselves. They enjoyed that feeling of finishing a long run and gaining a new medal. They loved feeling fit and motivated. And this made me realize I did to. I was tired of looking at myself in the mirror and only seeing my imperfections. I just wanted to finally see myself with a smile rather than with a look of disappointment. Finally realizing this, I decided to make a new goal, and for the first time it wasn’t about losing an extra inch or gaining a little bit more muscle. My new goal was to just run for myself, that’s all I wanted. I didn’t want the weight of beauty standards and self-consciousness weighing me down anymore, I just wanted to run because I wanted to run.
Isabela (in blue) enjoying a beautiful run with friends!
Many may wonder how this tied into SRLA, but in reality it has everything to do with the program. Without this program I probably would still have this negative point of view on my own body. This organization gives me the opportunity to finally look at myself without society’s lens blurring my vision.
Through running, I have finally came to terms with my body and learn to love it for the temple it is. They made me realize that I run because I want to run, not because I want to lose weight or to fit society’s standards. When I look in the mirror, I no longer see that extra pound, no, I am far too distracted by my 2019 LA Marathon medal dangling from my neck to do that.
You can help students like Isabela and her teammates at HTPA to cross the marathon finish line this season and discover: “If I can run a marathon, I can do anything!” by making a donation at srla.org/donate.