My brother just told me yesterday that he needs to get more beefed up, otherwise when our three cousins come back from Down Under in a few weeks time, he will feel so embarrassed, as his body shape is nothing compared to their muscular six-packed bodies.
If he is going to start comparing, what about me? We have so many female cousins whom my mum is constantly comparing me to. About how they are so tall, elegant, fair-skinned, talented, smart, well-behaved and all good in studies, sports and music, and those who are married all married very well, not like me, who is neither of these and in danger of becoming an old maid.
I told my brother my mum used to say that the other girls look like fair ladies, whereas I look like the maid just because my skin colour happens to be a little darker. Even my Indonesian relatives are fairer than me! I still remember one of my Indonesian aunts remarking that I look more Indonesian than her! (Oh well, what’s new about that?)
My little cousins are already taller than me. I remember at one Christmas party at one of my relatives’ place, my elder cousins were not around, so when they called for the eldest, I had to go first. And yet I am the most pint-sized among all. That was really one embarrassing moment for me.
I was at the period of my life where I was feeling really lousy about myself – short, dark, bespectacled, unruly hair, not in any of the best schools, never had any sports trophy or best-in-school certificates to show. The only saving grace was that I had good enough skin, thus I seldom have acne breakouts even during the most awkward teenage years.
But now that I am through all these, I realize that I am in the position to make a difference to myself. So what if I am vertically-challenged? There are always heels. And I never have to worry about finding a guy taller than me because most guys are taller than me. I used to listen to my tall friends lamenting about how it was so hard for them to be attached as most guys are put off by girls who are too tall. I have a friend who is 1.78m in height, and all her boyfriends were at least 1.84m and above. Now that she had broken up four times, how many guys around that height are left for her?
And so what if I had glasses? I have been wearing lenses for the past decade or so. And once I pluck up enough courage and psyche myself up enough, I will go ahead with the LASIK. So what if I am tanned? At least I will never get sunburnt, and I can always use whitening products to make myself look fairer. And so what if I always had bad hair days? Just one rebonding job and my hairy woes are over.
And so what if I am still single now? There is definitely someone out there for me who can love me more than I love him. It is the guys’ own losses that they could not hold on to me and did not wish to experience the love I could give.
In the end I told my brother that it is no use constantly comparing himself with our three gorgeous hunks of cousins, who are also fun-loving and charismatic. The environment and culture they are brought up in are different from us. Instead of lamenting on how much better they are than him, he should concentrate on things he can improve himself in. I did that and have never felt better about myself.
If he is going to start comparing, what about me? We have so many female cousins whom my mum is constantly comparing me to. About how they are so tall, elegant, fair-skinned, talented, smart, well-behaved and all good in studies, sports and music, and those who are married all married very well, not like me, who is neither of these and in danger of becoming an old maid.
I told my brother my mum used to say that the other girls look like fair ladies, whereas I look like the maid just because my skin colour happens to be a little darker. Even my Indonesian relatives are fairer than me! I still remember one of my Indonesian aunts remarking that I look more Indonesian than her! (Oh well, what’s new about that?)
My little cousins are already taller than me. I remember at one Christmas party at one of my relatives’ place, my elder cousins were not around, so when they called for the eldest, I had to go first. And yet I am the most pint-sized among all. That was really one embarrassing moment for me.
I was at the period of my life where I was feeling really lousy about myself – short, dark, bespectacled, unruly hair, not in any of the best schools, never had any sports trophy or best-in-school certificates to show. The only saving grace was that I had good enough skin, thus I seldom have acne breakouts even during the most awkward teenage years.
But now that I am through all these, I realize that I am in the position to make a difference to myself. So what if I am vertically-challenged? There are always heels. And I never have to worry about finding a guy taller than me because most guys are taller than me. I used to listen to my tall friends lamenting about how it was so hard for them to be attached as most guys are put off by girls who are too tall. I have a friend who is 1.78m in height, and all her boyfriends were at least 1.84m and above. Now that she had broken up four times, how many guys around that height are left for her?
And so what if I had glasses? I have been wearing lenses for the past decade or so. And once I pluck up enough courage and psyche myself up enough, I will go ahead with the LASIK. So what if I am tanned? At least I will never get sunburnt, and I can always use whitening products to make myself look fairer. And so what if I always had bad hair days? Just one rebonding job and my hairy woes are over.
And so what if I am still single now? There is definitely someone out there for me who can love me more than I love him. It is the guys’ own losses that they could not hold on to me and did not wish to experience the love I could give.
In the end I told my brother that it is no use constantly comparing himself with our three gorgeous hunks of cousins, who are also fun-loving and charismatic. The environment and culture they are brought up in are different from us. Instead of lamenting on how much better they are than him, he should concentrate on things he can improve himself in. I did that and have never felt better about myself.
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