Recently, I ended a bad relationship, and I have been working on a spiritual journey to figure out how to live life to the fullest and hopefully figure out the meaning of life. My first “ta-da!” moment was finally being able to look in the mirror and not hate the face that was staring back at me. I had low self-esteem for years; I would always compare myself to others and wish that my hair was longer or that my stomach was flatter. I was way too harsh on myself and would stand in the mirror every morning pointing out each flaw that I had.

One day, I was completely fed up with hating myself. I decided that I was going to find a way to love myself and not want to cry every time I looked in the mirror or slap myself when I said something stupid. I began to practice yoga and meditate, and I went on a shopping spree to Barnes & Noble for inspirational novels. I read a variety of books that ranged from pages of motivating quotes to learning how to create myself by traveling.

I do not remember exactly how I finally figured out how to love myself, because I did not see it in black and white. I believe that after combining all of these practices together, I finally came up with the solution that worked. I treat my mind as if it is a person that follows me everywhere I go. Think of it like a roommate- you want to get along with your roommate as much as possible because if you constantly argue then it will be a miserable living situation for the both of you. My mind and body are stuck with each other until the day that I die, so it is best if we get along.

I am trying harder to take care of my body. I am mostly eating healthy organic foods, but I am also treating myself to junk food at times. I used to be obsessed with counting calories and making sure that I did not gain any weight. I learned to love my body and be healthy, because it feels a lot better to be really healthy rather than really skinny.

I am not perfect — I will still cringe at the way my hair looks or how I made awkward eye contact with someone, but I definitely get along with myself better. I no longer run on the treadmill to burn off every calorie from the slice of cake that I had or try to change my personality to be like someone else. I am who I am, and if anyone is not happy with me, then it is their loss. I am happy with myself and I am proud of what I have been accomplishing in life. I love learning new things about myself each day, and challenging myself to try things that I never saw myself doing. I am young, I have great plans for myself, and my life is so much happier now that I love myself. I went from being the girl that doubted myself every day to being the girl with high ambitions and a positive outlook on life. I wake up with a smile on my face each day, because I finally realized that I am worth it.