Are You Comfortable In Your Own Skin?

No matter how old or young, people are increasingly starting to feel comfortable in their own skin.

- Anjuly Mathai

I recently read an article which talked about how you stop caring about so many things that don’t matter when you reach a particular age. You no longer care about people’s opinions, especially when they are about you. You no longer care about ridiculous fashion rules, like the one that says you shouldn’t wear a bikini after turning 30. You no longer care about what your ex thinks about you. You realise that your mistakes don’t define you; they are merely pieces in your life that have made you who you are. You also don’t care about fitting in. “Some people spend their whole lives trying to fit in only to realise that those who want to belong are just boring,” says the article. “Why would anyone want to be another sheep among millions of sheep? No thanks. Fly your freak flag and roll solo.”

For someone who had just turned 30 and on the brink of a new phase of her life, I could identify with the article. Yes, I was no longer the insecure, wannabe girl of my 20s. Drunken parties, experimental hairstyles, wild fashion choices—these all seemed to be things of the past. In some ways, I had “found myself”. I had come to realise who I really was. And that, I came to understand, was not exclusive to me. Increasingly, people are starting to understand themselves and enjoying, even relishing life, no matter what age they are. I spoke to my cousins and friends of various ages and they all told me how they had gained enough confidence to be comfortable in their skin, even if they no longer looked like they did in their 20s.