I saw something the other day about living life as a “double zero” and how we have to stop judging them. Ironic really because living life as anything other than a “six” is deemed “judge able.” People will look at you up and down as you walk on the beach in a bikini because you don’t have the “average” body type. You will stare at them because a small part of you knows that you will never look like them. No matter how many nights you don’t eat, or how many hours you work out. It’s not going to happen. You will cry because you crave the body type that can wear anything and look good in it. You will probably eat because that’s what you do when you’re feeling down on yourself. You will bottle all your emotions in and hide your feelings.

Stop. We live in a society that claims that the average size is a “fourteen” when all we see it as something much smaller. We live in a world that wants to shame girls who are confident because well, they don’t look like Victoria’s secret angels. Stop trying to be someone you’re not. Stop trying to love someone else’s body because you can’t face your own. A very wise man once told me that the most important thing, above anything, was to love yourself. To be able to look at yourself and say “okay, I can work with this.” To be able to put on an outfit and think “well hey, I look good tonight.” Those feelings are not going to come from a double zero model in a magazine. There not going to come from some girl walking on the beach, or from a Victoria’s Secret model. They are going to come from inside you, yes, you reading this right now.

See we all have our insecurities or things we don’t like about ourselves. Things we wish we could change, well because they don’t fit the standard of society today. Meanwhile, it's society that’s missing out. It’s society that doesn’t show the young girl who is confident in who she is, smart, talented, BEAUTIFUL and not a size zero. It's society that misses the valedictorian who talks about how she was bullied, rose above it and learned to love herself for who she is, not how she looks. The truth is beauty is very often skin deep, but the true gold lies within the skin of that person.

We have the power to change the world we live in. I know it might seem out of reach, but the truth is we can be that change. We can inspire young people to love themselves, their bodies, and all that they are. You and I, we must be the examples. We are so afraid of things that are different, so afraid to be something that is not the same to everyone else. Those patterns and thoughts have to end, we have to break free from those ideas and thoughts. I ask you now, yes you, whoever is reading this to do something for me. Everyday tell yourself something nice. Tell your friends something nice, call someone and tell them that you love them, for them not for how they look. Not for who they want to be, but for the person they truly are. Self-love and acceptance is not easy, especially in the world we live in today. It is up to us to be the change, to be the voice, to make the difference. So no, I’m not sorry I’m not a double zero, or a Victoria’s Secret Angel. Because at the end of the day, when I lay down and close my eyes, I like me, just the way I am. I hope you do too.