Growing up in the current society as a young adult will be the most challenging journey most teens will face. Not only did the twenty first century bring us technology from sci-fi movies, but also a new set of cultural expectations regarding the individual to follow. These social requirements are especially targeted to the most technology driven generation in history: the current young adults and the future generations of adolescents. Young women all over the world are sacrificing their mental and physical health in order to meet the impossible body expectations set by the media. Young men are sacrificing their character and individuality to advertise their most masculine qualities to their peers. What is beneath all of this sacrificing and striving for perfection? If you google along the lines of "how to cure a mental disorder," you will find millions of articles and studies suggesting therapy, medications, group treatments, and parental support. Anybody can diagnose someone with mental illness, but only the person themselves can cure it.

I was not one to escape the pressures from society to fit in. I started dieting when I was in seventh grade, a consequence of bullying, remarks from family members, and the start of a negative body perspective. By the end of my freshman year, thoughts about my body and physical image possessed my mind. On the inside I was emotionally damaged, and a slave to my own mind. I struggled with an eating disorder all four years high school. However, towards the end of my senior year, things started to change. My last year, I had indescribable friends, accomplished many athletic and academic achievements, and started to see the world from a new perspective. I slowly began to realize I wanted to be free from myself, and enjoy the new chapter of my life life without personal chains tied around me. I started to love myself, and this is what happened when I did:

1. I viewed the world as beautiful

Once you find a new appreciation of the world, your whole perspective will start to change. This is the base for starting recovery. Once you find the world as a beautiful palace, you will begin to see it's inhabitants and features beautiful as well.

2. I found new passions

In my search to find beauty in the world, I began to experiment in ways I could make it a reality. Photography was something I pursued in previous years, but quit after my life became more complicated. After picking the camera up once again, I noticed that capturing the world through a lens and sharing those moments gave me an internal pleasure. Photography became the support system of my mental happiness.

3. I grew socially

Ask anybody I went to school with, and I would be described as a socially awkward person. They have every right to describe me in that way. I never attended any football or basketball games, and blew off school dances. Without any self confidence, the act of putting yourself out there is nearly impossible.

My improvements with my social life should not be discussed without recognition of how I got there. I had three incredible girls who were there for me every step of my recovery. Thanks to them, I never missed a football or basketball game my junior and senior year. School dances became my time to shine, and were something I looked forward to months before the dance. I became a leader in group discussions and got involved on the prom committee. I ran cross country, a sport I always swore I would never join and soon became my favorite thing in the world. My personality was starting to bloom. I was becoming the person I wanted to be perceived as, the person I really was. Thank God for friends.

5. I became myself

I was diagnosed with an eating disorder around four years ago. The person I am today is a result of those past four years. I might be found in the student section during football games, loosing my voice with the rest of my classmates. You might find me strolling around downtown, browsing the local boutique shops. I love attending dances, making jokes with my friends, and taking daring dares. I am the happiest I have ever been in my eighteen years of life, even though my trail has many bumps and curves

4. I accepted my body

Not long after I was first diagnosed with an eating disorder, my mother made a comment in the car on way home from one of my therapy sessions. She told me: "I just don't understand, you're beautiful, kind, an amazing girl, how can you not love yourself? Why can't you see what I see?"

I realized that you can write all the books you want on eating disorders. You can diagnose the whole population. You can conduct as many surveys as you want. If you haven't lived it, you will never understand it. After my mom made that comment, I knew she could drag me to a million therapy sessions, but nobody could cure me except the person who knew exactly what I was going through. That person was me.

This realization and understanding is new for me. I have college to thank for this one. When I look around campus, I notice body types of all kinds. Some girls are short and stocky, others are tall and lean, and some are mixed and matched with both aspects. But what stands out to me most is not their body type, but how beautiful they all are. Not one person is built the same, and that's perfectly okay, because it would be imperfect if we all were.

It took a long time to get myself where I am, and I am far from finished. The road was rocky and twisted, but there were always blossoming trees red roses on the side. I can't wait to see what is at the end.