It's no secret that I have fuller lips. They're kind of hard to miss really. They are big. As a child I was constantly reminded about how big they are. "Aryana, you have big lips." "Why are your lips so big?" I didn't know how to respond. I became embarrassed and ashamed. I was also angry, I blamed my mother and father, they were the ones responsible. I would come home in tears because I was tormented and harassed about the size of my lips. I considered myself to be unattractive and not worthy. Keep in mind, I was a young child of 12. Everything was extreme and dramatic.

My family tried to cheer me up, boost my self-esteem, tell me all the good things I wanted to hear. "You're beautiful, you have a gorgeous smile. Don't worry about those knuckle-headed kids." I was also told that, people would pay to have lips like mine. *cough cough* Kylie Jenner.

One thing that I will always remember, is my grandmother telling me, "The bigger the lips, the bigger the kiss." My confidence level at the age of 12 was nonexistent. I was a sensitive kid and self-conscious about a body part that was smack dab on my face. You can only imagine the amount of tears I cried on my pillow. As I got older, I grew tired. I was tired of crying, I was fed up with the insults. I was done being a victim of unnecessary teasing. It was time to enter high school, I was determined to be a better, bigger, confident person. I decided I was going to own my lips, they weren't going to own me. I mea, I'm literally stuck with them. I might as well learn how to LOVE them.

The older I got, I started to realize, my lips are ONE of my best assets. Other females have told me "Oh I love your lips." "Your lips are so pretty." I was a little taken aback, I didn't know how to accept these new compliments. Especially from the guys. It was astonishing to me, really. Guys did not hold back their feelings and desires about how they "loved" my lips. To the point where I would hear some inappropriate comments. Therefore I became self-conscious all over again. It was as if I could't win.

However, I wasn't going to go down that sad and depressing road again. I wasn't going to allow the words of others to break me. I had to face the facts, my lips are fuller, they are "juicy", they are BIG. There is literally nothing I can do about it. Other than love them and be happy I have them. As a woman, that's all that we can do. People will talk about us until the day we leave this earth. There is nothing we can about that. So instead of fretting over my lips, I am going to smile.