I read an article recently that was titled "Stop Self Comparison And Start Self Acceptance" and it inspired me in a way. Loving myself has been a long and arduous journey because nobody really taught me how to do it. I had to find out for myself what it meant to be okay in your own skin, what it meant to really truly love me. Since I know how difficult it can be when you're left with no guidebook to what I call "Self-Love," I figured I'd offer up some of my own tips.

1. Stop avoiding the mirror

With the exception of brushing my teeth, obsessively checking for pimples and other imperfections, I used to avoid mirrors. If I saw myself in one, I had to look away quickly less I see my chubby stomach, my double-chin, my flabby arms and anything else about myself that I just did not like. Now you might think, "if you're not standing there criticizing yourself, then isn't that a good thing?"

Normally I would be inclined to agree with you. However, there's a better way to combat that urge to tear yourself apart. Instead of avoiding the mirror, embrace it. Look directly at your reflection and when you hear your mind start to say these awful negative things, you look yourself in the eyes and you say, "No." Instead of negativity, look in the mirror and pick out something about yourself that you like. It doesn't matter how small or big that thing is, so long as you view it in a positive light. Stop avoiding the mirror, stop letting the world convince you that you're ugly. Purposefully looking in the mirror and being kind to yourself is like giving a giant middle finger to society's shitty ideals of attractiveness, and that's one big step towards self-love.

2. Wear the clothes that you want to wear

Nothing sucks more than seeing a really awesome piece of clothing in a store only to have someone say that it wouldn't look good on you because of your body type, your skin tone, your face or whatever. Or you think you can't pull it off because you think that clothing has rules to it. You know what's stupid? Applying rules to fabric based on arbitrary standards of what looks good. It's as stupid as applying gender to clothing.

So, if you see something you think is cute and you want to wear it? Wear it. Don't worry about it not working with your body type, don't worry about it not working with your skin tone, just wear the d--n thing. As long as it's comfortable for you, and as long as you like it, then why the hell does it matter whether or not it looks "good?"

Even if you don't think it looks good on you, but you still really like the clothing, wear it anyways! Own your tackiness! It's not a bad thing! What other people think doesn't matter!

Now, of course, there are unfortunate exceptions to this rule. Job interviews, actual jobs and some of these things will require that you adhere to conventional standards of dressing. Casual situations where you're not trying to impress anybody and you're just going about your day are free game though. Wear the weird paisley vest, wear the parachute pants, wear leg warmers, wear Wal-Mart t-shirts, wear fancy dresses, blouses and blazers. Do whatever you want, because it's your body, it's your life, and you should be able to do whatever you want without worrying about people judging you.

3. Pay it forward

You can't walk the walk if you're not gonna talk the talk, so this part is vital to really allowing self-love to become a part of who you are. Everyone else is just as insecure as you are on some level, and no matter how independent you want to think you are, receiving a compliment is always going to make you feel good. So, when you see someone doing something out of the ordinary with their appearance, compliment them on it. Wanna know how I know this works?

I recently shaved my head. The original intention was a Mohawk, but that didn't pan out, so I just had my friend shave the rest of it off. My head is fairly round and I've got chubby cheeks, so I was feeling a little worried that I would look stupid with no hair. I was almost afraid to go outside and go to my classes without a hat on. I did it, but I was feeling some low level anxiety about it the entire time.

Fortunately, I was flooded with compliments. Part of that was because everyone just loves the fuzzy feeling so I got a lot of people rubbing my head and going, "Omg, it's so fuzzy and cute" but part of it was that people genuinely said, "Hey, I like your haircut!" without any prior prompting or anything of the sort. People complimented me and it helped a lot to ease the worry I had.

In turn, I try to compliment people whenever I get the chance. It's kind of hard when you don't know everyone and you also have social anxiety but when you are able to do it I promise it pays off. Getting compliments is great, but seeing someone's face light up when you compliment them on their hair or their clothes or their eye makeup is just an awesome feeling. You put good into the universe, you get good out of it.

4. Treat yourself like you treat your best friend

Seriously, would you look at your best friend and tell her that her eyes are too far apart or that she has love-handles? Would you say that he doesn't have any muscle definition or that he has a doughy face? Would you say that they can't pull of that shade of green or that she can't wear that shirt because her shoulders are too broad?

If you would say those things to your best friend, well you've got other issues that need dealing with.

However, if you wouldn't say those things to one of the most important people in your life, don't say them to yourself. You are the most important person in your life, because without you, there would be no you. That sounds ridiculous, I know, but think about it. You're the only you in this world, don't mess that up by being mean to yourself.