I feel like a lot of times in my life, I felt ashamed for flaws or situations I was in just because I was "supposed" to be. I spent a lot of time apologizing for them and justifying them to other people.

But recently, I realized that I shouldn't have to be sorry all the time. I don't owe anyone an apology for being alive and taking up space. I don't have to explain why I am the way I am.

We don't have to explain everything to everyone to justify being human.

You don't owe people an explanation on why you gained weight. You don't owe people an explanation for why you "look a mess today." You don't owe anyone an explanation of why you're sad. You don't have to apologize for existing.

The truth is, the world we live in perpetuates the idea that we are meant to be perfect all the time. But it's not healthy to hold yourself to such high expectations.

You're not a robot. You're a living, breathing thing. And no one can be perfect at every given moment.

We were put on this earth to exist and make mistakes and say stupid things and apologize for them and grow from them. My mom once said to me, "If you were meant to be perfect, God would have made you a Barbie Doll."

We aren't meant to look perfect all the time, or be the best at everything, or have everyone like us. We can't be happy all the time. We can't always do what everyone else wants us to do.

Sometimes, we need to look different or be different or do something different. Sometimes, we need to give ourselves the time to be sad or angry or hurt. Sometimes, we need to change the way we act. And when that happens, we need to treat ourselves with compassion and give ourselves the space to grow, even if other people aren't okay with that.

So, no. You're not going to look perfect all the time. That's okay, some things are more important. You're going to sometimes gain weight. That's okay, nothing is permanent and weight fluctuates all the time. You're sometimes going to be sad. That's okay, feelings mean that you're alive and you have the ability to get upset and angry and happy and experience all of these wonderful emotions we were given.

You can't hold yourself to such high expectations, because you're never going to be as perfect as you want to be. And that's going to drive you crazy. I guarantee, no one expects as much from you as you do from yourself. And if they do, they probably do the same thing to themselves and drive themselves crazy, too.

It's an endless cycle of people putting too much pressure on themselves and others and making each other miserable.

So no, you don't need to justify going to the grocery store in sweatpants. You don't need to justify being too tired to go out with your friends. You don't need to justify taking care of yourself. You need to give yourself permission to do what you have to do.

Sometimes, you have to just let yourself exist as you are, right then. And you don't owe anyone an apology for doing it.