If someone asked me the question: What do you wish you could change about your body?, my younger self would have been able to list a number of things, including the fact that I have stretch marks. But now I don't know what I would say.

My stretch marks have haunted me since I discovered them when I was much younger, though I do not remember exactly when it happened. The impact it had was not positive at first, meaning that I probably saw them in the summer after I tanned a little. And, because it bothered me that bad, I didn't want anyone to be able to see them.Thing is, I never realized how insignificant they were when I categorized them as flaws.

The marks on my body are nothing to be ashamed of. The swelling from where my finger was cut open will eventually go down, the stretch marks show that I've grown, and the fact that I have to be selective about clothes because of how I'm built physically make me who I am. I've been through a lot, and that only makes me stronger.

The scars you bear, inside and out, are battle marks, signs that you have survived the hardest things in your life so far. We are all made up of different genetics, and go through things other people don't. The key is to understand that as long as you take care of you and remove what is poisonous from your life, the hardest step has been done. People will criticize, and even try to get you down about a physical or mental aspect that they have no say in.

Don't be afraid of what makes you different, and remember that no one is perfect. Sometimes we don't get a say in what happens to our bodies, but that's not the end of the world.