This handwritten note was enclosed in an anonymous letter sent to Kelley Markland, a substitute teacher and mother from Port Orange, Florida. Included with the note was a photo of a random overweight woman bending over (photo taken from behind), and a meme of Ron Burgundy judgmentally wagging a finger with the quote, “your pants say yoga but your butt says McDonalds.”
It’s hard to believe that this cruel bully actually exists and dared to pick on this grown woman. Not cool, dude.
How Did She React?
Kelley posted her reaction to this heartbreaking letter in a Facebook post.
Kelley loves to wear her leggings because they give her confidence. But when this hater had to go out of his/her way to body-shame her, she was straightforward about how the letter made her feel—like sh*t… “absolute, complete sh*t.”
But there is beauty to this story. Kelley’s friends and Facebook followers came together to support her. Friends and strangers took a moment to post, share, and comment to help uplift Kelley and make sure she knows that she’s beautiful.
A Shift in Perspective
This overwhelming Facebook response to Kelley’s post enabled her to overhaul her hurt and create a positive and powerful change. Kelley’s perspective transformed from “feeling like sh*t,” to gratitude for the letter. In a later post, she wrote:
“whoever wrote this letter, thank you, because you started something so much bigger. Because of this, I found some strength I didn't have."
There are countless opportunities to compare our bodies to those around us. Her butt is bigger. His legs are longer. My eyes are prettier. There will always be someone with “better” [!insert!] than you. And there will always be someone with “worse” [!insert!] than you. Even identifying something as better or worse is completely construed by how society defines beauty.
None of that matters.
What really matters is that you feel good in your skin. You take ownership of your own unique (and beautiful!!) body. You do whatever makes you feel good in that body—whether that’s wearing groovy leggings or none at all. You do your thing.
