As a young girl, I distinctly remember browsing the internet for creative yet simple hairstyles and practicing them on end, but nothing worked in my favor. Braids were too hard for my uncoordinated fingers and my hair was too unruly for anything I managed to pull together.

In that moment, I decided I hated my hair.

It wasn't kinky coils, but rather a fusion between waves and curls. It was long, heavy and frizzy. Dealing with it was an inconvenience. Why couldn't I have been blessed with something easier to deal with like Becky with the Good Hair? (I seriously appreciate all the work that natural girls put into their hair because I could never.)

I really should have been more grateful, but the middle-schooler in me had a hard time with that. Instead, I resorted to flat-ironing away the texture from the hair and pulling it back into an up-do whenever I had the chance. This consisted of a lot of gel, hairspray, combing and heat.

It was a struggle.

Then the strangest thing happened sometime during my third year of high school. I, to no surprise, was running late because I slept in and didn't have enough time to get ready. I scrunched some gel into my hair and darted out the door without thinking of what I looked like.

Embarrassed, I confided in a friend and asked, "Do I look bad? My hair is a mess, isn't it?"

When she disagreed, something sparked inside of me. It's a little sad that I relied so heavily on the opinion's of others for something as simple as hair, but I'm glad it happened because it, in a way, played a role in my journey of self-acceptance.

I stopped burning the hell out of my hair, combing the curls away and forcing the frizz down. I stuffed the curling rods and flat-irons under the counter and turned to more natural products like something as simple but effective as coconut oil.

I just let my hair be.

And it was a good thing. I learned to embrace it as it is and it helped bring back life to my hair. People even compliment me on my natural texture and the little girl inside me is surprised because not too long ago I actually hated it.

What I'm trying to say is, don't let insecurity or embarrassment cloud your judgment over anything — whether it be body image or hair. These quirks define you and embracing them isn't an overnight process. It takes time and courage.