Today’s Wonder of the Day was inspired by Athena. Athena Wonders, “How can keeping a positive attitude reduce stress?” Thanks for WONDERing with us, Athena!

Has anyone ever told you that you’re great just the way you are? We sure hope so, because it’s true! We think all our Wonder Friends are great, and we love that you like to WONDER with us.

But most people don’t always feel great. No matter what friends and families say, it’s too easy to dwell on imperfections sometimes. Some people feel too tall. Others feel too short. Some think they’re too quiet or too loud. They might even feel too skinny or too round. And these feelings are normal! We all feel that way from time to time.

Whether it’s your height, your weight, your hair color, the size of your feet, or something else entirely, it’s normal to feel certain ways about the different parts of your body. And your body has many parts. So there are plenty of opinions you can hold!

All these beliefs you hold about your physical appearance make up what’s called your body image. Body image includes not only whether you feel that you look nice, but also specific beliefs about particular parts of your body.

For many people, body image is linked closely to self-esteem, which is how you feel about your self-worth. A positive body image and good self-esteem are important to feeling well, both mentally and physically.

Many people have a negative body image and low self-esteem because they’re not perfect. But guess what? No one is perfect! People will always have differences. And none of those differences should make anyone feel better or worse than the people around them.

Since it’s impossible to be perfect, everyone should embrace the people they are. It doesn’t mean they can’t make changes and improvements to make themselves healthier. But no one should get down on themselves because of these things.

If a change will make you healthier, by all means, pursue it. Don’t change things, though, simply because you think you’ll be better looking or people will like you more. Learn to accept and celebrate the unique human being that is YOU.

Everyone has things they wish were different about their bodies. But don’t focus on those things. Instead, concentrate on being the best person you can be with the talents you were born with. Find those things that make you WONDERful and celebrate them!

Standards: CCRA.R.4, CCRA.L.3, CCRA.L.6, CCRA.R.1, CCRA.R.2, CCRA.R.10, CCRA.SL.1, CCRA.SL.2, CCRA.W.4

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Tomorrow’s Wonder of the Day really breaks the MOLD!