To the person who only sees the flaws of their body,

Your body is a temple; it houses your brain, which allows you to feel, your lungs, which allow you to breathe, and most importantly, your heart, which allows you to love. While you may only see the imperfections on the outside, you are much more than that.

While you may only see the scars on your face, I see your spirit shining through your eyes. I see the smile that can light up the room. Your laughter is contagious; you may not notice it, but your laughter puts a smile on the faces of everyone around you. Those scars that you see on your face, the rest of us don't look at them like you do. We see them, but they are beauty marks to us; to us, they aren’t the scars that remind you of the days you had acne.

The stretch marks on your sides and on your thighs should not make you feel ashamed. They are your battle stripes. Everyone has some form of stretch marks, don't feel ashamed and think that you have to hide them. Embrace them. Love your stretch marks, they’re a part of who you are. They are a symbol of the changes that your body has gone through.

Don’t hate your body because you think that there’s too much weight on you. Don’t hate your body if you think there’s not enough weight on you. Try to not compare the size of your body to those around you. We are all created to be different shapes and sizes. Everyone’s bodies are different, our metabolisms are different, our bones are different. Embrace what you were given.

The imperfections that you see aren’t what the rest of us see. Try to not be hard on yourself -- instead, love yourself. Love every single inch of yourself. From the things you think are beautiful to the imperfections that you try to hide from the rest of us, embrace them all; don’t be afraid to show everyone the real you, imperfections and all.

If you want to change something about yourself for the better, change it. Hit the gym, get a facial, get a massage, take a ceramics class, play basketball with friends, eat a pint of ice cream or a cheeseburger; it doesn't matter what you do as long as it’s making you happy. When you’re happy and making changes to improve yourself, your body is happy too. Your body is the shell that you live in. It’s the cocoon that nurtures you and protects you from the world. Don’t hate or harm your body, love it and everything it does for you. Ignore what anyone else has to say about your body, it’s yours and yours only to critique. That being said, stop critiquing. All the critiquing does is hurt you. Society influences our perception of what we are supposed to look like, but you are the only one that decides what you should look like.

Choose to love yourself. Choose to embrace your imperfections. Choose to love your body. Choose to make your own definition of beauty. Choose to love and respect your temple.