The funny thing about beauty and size is that contrary to popular belief, you do not have to be skinny to be beautiful. Beauty and size have no correlation. They can and do exist as separate entities.

I'll never forget hearing the relayed information that someone had told a friend of mine that I was "pretty for a big girl"…

No, I'm JUST pretty. Period.

"For a big girl" was her discrediting the fact that I'm beautiful, because I'm not a size 2.

Also, I’ll never forget all the different times I was called “fat” as a kid. I'm not "fat". You should never let someone refer to you as being "fat", not even yourself.

You HAVE fat. Yes. Everyone does, but that doesn't make YOU fat. You're made up of much more than fat cells, but you don't go around saying, "I'm blood, tissue, fingernails, and teeth". Why? Because that's an ignorant statement! We know you're not those things. You (hopefully) possess all those things, but they are not YOU.

Never let your fat cells define you. That goes for your blood, tissue, fingernails, and teeth, too. You're more than those things. Who YOU are is defined by exactly that, WHO you are and not WHAT you are, have, or do not have. Let YOU be more than a measurement or number on a scale. Let YOU be the good you do and the light you bring to the world. YOU are not a numerical value to be measured. YOU are to be more than this.

In this age's society, where being "skinny" and "thin" is the idea of beauty, don't think for a second that you having fat is your identity. If that were the case then everyone is fat, because if not, they are dead.

Yes, by all means, be healthy. I'm not advocating obesity or unhealthy living styles. I am, however, an advocate for positive self-image and self-love. Unhealthy living styles can include drug addiction/use, abusive relationships, extremely stressing jobs, and unprotected sex with an extensive list of sexual partners. Just because someone's a bigger size does not mean they are not trying to be better or healthier and just because Johnny is drinking alcohol does not mean he is not trying to quit. So we should focus on our own problems within a range of being fixable, stop referring to other people or ourselves as “fat”, and stop associating beauty with thinness. Beauty comes from positivity you bring to the world. It is like my nanny always told me as a young girl, “Pretty is as pretty does.”