Last summer, I had the opportunity to manage a small women's clothing store in my hometown. A benefit of this job was that I got to talk to women all day long—I got to help them pick out clothes, give fashion advice, or just chat and get to know them better. But what stuck out to me the most almost every day during these conversations with women were the amount of negative comments they had about their bodies. I could not work a single day without hearing women criticize their bodies as they tried on clothes. Comments would range from:

"I need to lose about 30 pounds before I can be confident in anything."

"I hate my stomach."

"I feel like a whale in this outfit."

"My body is too scrawny."

"Ew, my arms are huge."

"I feel disgusting when I'm trying on clothes."

"If I gain some weight then I wouldn't look like a skinny freak."

"I used to have a good body when I was young, but now I'm old and fat."

"I honestly hate my body."

Hate. Scrawny. Ew. Disgusting. Freak. Fat. Hate.

I could honestly go on and on with the negative and hateful words and comments I heard every day. We would never say these things to other people, so why do we say them to ourselves? If friends or boyfriends or girlfriends said this to each other, it would be considered verbal abuse. As a matter of fact, in the store it is always the woman's friend, sister, mother, husband, or boyfriend who immediately corrects the hateful comments and turns them around saying things like,

"Stop that, you are so beautiful."

"Don't say that about yourself, you're gorgeous."

"You need to be more confident, you have no flaws."

"I don't care what you say about yourself, I love every part of you."

Beautiful. Gorgeous. Confident. Love.

These words come from the people who love these women in the store for who they are. What I began to notice is that women would come into the store with their friends and loved ones, and these were the people who saw them as beautiful and flawless. The people who love us see us as truly flawless. I can say without a doubt that my friends and my family are the most beautiful women I know, and I couldn't find a flaw on them if I tried.

So, why don't we see ourselves as our loved ones see us? We look in the mirror in the dressing room and have the need to point out everything we want to change about our body. Maybe we're comparing ourselves to other people, or maybe we're influenced by the bodies we see in the media. Whatever it is, it's difficult to see past what we think are our flaws.

I am in no way 100 percent confident with my body, and it is very hard for anyone to have absolutely zero insecurities and doubts, no matter what size you are. Honestly, when I hear someone say, "Just love your body!" I find it to be a load of crap very unhelpful. But I think we can make small strides every day to loving the skin we're in. Stop yourself when you hear those negative comments creep in, make the most of what you've got, and appreciate your body for what it does—not what it looks like.

So next time you're at a store shopping for clothes, instead of ranting to the employee about how much you hate parts of your body, walk out of that dressing room with pride and say, "Yeah, I know I look good in this." You'll not only be reminding yourself of your beauty, but you might just make the employee's day.