Chrissie Swan was waiting for one thing to be happy, then realised why it was so wrong.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we’d be astronomically happier if we could juuuust tweak one aspect of our lives.

Relationships might be at the crux of this belief — “When I find a boyfriend/get married, I’ll be so much happier” — or it might be finances, possessions, a certain career path, or the way you look. We all have our perceived hurdles.

For Chrissie Swan, like many women, it was her body. In a poignant Instagram post last night, the radio host recalled coming to the realisation five years ago that she’d been waiting “to be thin” in order to be happy.

From an outsider’s perspective, this is hard to imagine — Swan is easily one of the most effervescent media personalities in Australia, and rarely seen without that lovely, warm smile on her face.

A photo posted by Chrissie Swan (@chrissieswan) on Apr 27, 2016 at 1:22am PDT

However, the 42-year-old says her dissatisfaction about her body would have seen her waste her “whole fabulous life” if she hadn’t decided to shift her way of thinking.

“I started to think about this magical life I thought all thin people lead and I just started living it myself,” Swan writes.

This included having blowdrys and her nails done, taking leisurely walks, playing with her kids and wearing bras that actually fit.

“And guess what? My body does it all. Happily. And it’s not thin,” she explains.

“You’ll be amazed at the perfect things your imperfect body can do if you let it.”

Watch: Aussie singer Christine Anu reflects on her own body image perceptions. (Post continues after video.)

The path to body acceptance and love can be a treacherous one for any (if not every) woman to navigate.

However, due to her household name status, Swan is in the unenviable position of having her appearance endlessly scrutinised by the public and the industry she’s in. And it hasn’t always been positive.

In an interview with Studio 10 last year, she recounted an incident during the filming of Big Brother in 2003 that had left her feeling vulnerable.

“I was taking my bra off and I heard someone behind me say, ‘I know you like big women.’ And I was like, ‘What’s going on, are they sending pictures of my boobs to friends? Like what, have I become someone’s fetish?’” she said.  (Post continues after gallery.)

We love these celeb quotes on body image

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Ultimately, though, Swan said she was unfazed by people who tried to shame her for her weight.

“When someone calls me fat – I know that, I’ve got a mirror, tell me something I don’t know. That really doesn’t bother me to be honest, that’s like saying I have brown hair,” she told the Studio 10 panel.

“I am an imperfect person and I know that about myself.”

Have you ever felt that something was holding you back from being happy?

Image: Getty.