It takes time to come to terms with the idea that the perfect body does not exist. I know that society doesn't help much by showing commercials and publishing magazines with “the perfect body.” All it takes is confidence and realizing that the perfect body does not exist. There’s only one of you and you only get one chance to be you, so be confident, be strong and be flawed.

Growing up, I can say that I was guilty and still may be a little guilty of comparing myself to others at times. It’s hard to watch television, read a magazine or even walk down the street and not compare yourself to others, even if it is the smallest comparison. I know that sometimes I wish I was taller, had longer hair, had blue eyes and even had a little less meat on my bones. What we don’t think about is the person that we are comparing ourselves can look right back at us and think, “I wish I was shorter, I wish I had brown eyes and I’d kill to have some more meat on my bones.”

We are all born with a mixture of uniqueness and flaws. What makes you you is your flaws, and we need to learn to embrace them, not try to fix them. So what if you have acne, so what if you have wide hips, so what if you have a thigh gap, so what if you don’t have a thigh gap, so what if you have freckles and so what if you think your nose is too big for your face? We only get one chance to live, so what I want to know is why do we spend so much time trying to make ourselves the perfect person? It’s not possible, and one day we will all realize how stupid it was to waste time on products trying to make us “better,” or fake applications, or even plastic surgery. It’s not worth it. We aren’t broken, so why fix us? We don’t need fixing, we just need to learn to embrace ourselves and love ourselves, because at the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

Sometimes it’s hard to love yourself for who you are when others put you down. Nothing is worse than being put down by the people that mean the most to you. I know it’s hard not to listen to the negativity and put-downs of others, but take that and turn it into strength. Don’t give other people that satisfaction, because that’s their goal in putting you down, to either get a rise out of you or to knock you down so far you can’t get back up. When people take shots at your body image, it can really hit you hard, unless you know how to deal with it and not listen to them. Saying things like “You’re too fat, you shouldn't be wearing that,” or “You’re too skinny you look like a bag of bones,” are very hurtful sentences and we need to get away from body-shaming. I know from experience how words hurt and when it’s shots taken at your body, that hurts the most. I’ve been called names before and been body-shamed, but if I had known how to deal with it at the time, maybe it wouldn't have hurt so much. I’m 20-years-old going on my third year of college and I’ve been asked if I was 16 and still in high school before. Even though it’s not a direct hit at the body, it’s still an assumption based on my body. I figure it must be my height that makes people think I’m younger than I really am. With that being said, I’m starting to learn to take the negatives and turn them into positives and embrace myself, all five feet and two inches of me.

I know that I’m short, I don't need anyone to tell me that. I know I have thick thighs, I don’t need anyone to tell me that, either. I know that I’m not perfect, and each day I look in the mirror and embrace who I am, flaws and all. My advice to everyone is this: If you say you are not perfect, you’re exactly right, you’re not. Nobody is. If you aren’t happy with your body, do something about it. Go for a run, eat healthier, wear those heels and red lipstick, but with doing so, make sure you’re doing it for the right reasons and doing it for you, not for anyone else. That’s where we all go wrong, and the sooner we realize that, the better. There’s no such thing as the perfect body. I can confidently now say that I love my thick thighs and I love my height. It’s part of what makes me, me. Take it or leave it, either way, I’ll be fine because I learned that the perfect body does not exist.