For the majority of my life, I've struggled with body image. I know that millions of people of all ages struggle with this exact same thing on a daily basis, and it absolutely breaks my heart. Nobody should ever feel like their body isn't thin enough or tan enough or just downright not beautiful enough.

I grew up very very small. My mom will tell me I wasn't nearly as skinny as I thought I was, but I know exactly what I looked like. I was smaller than my peers and nearly an entire year older than them due to me starting Kindergarten a year late. When people would find out how old I was they'd make rude comments about how my size and age didn't quite match up. They'd tell me to eat a cheeseburger or a pint of ice cream. They didn't seem to get it. It didn't work like that. Eating a large amount wasn't going to help the fact that my metabolism just seemed to always be working on overdrive.

Fast forward to high school. I was just starting to really like my small physique. What people made fun of in elementary school was something I was complimented on in high school. People asked me what I did to achieve my small waist, to which I didn't have an answer for. It was just natural. They'd tell me I was lucky, but then one day something new struck up inside me. Sure I was small, but I didn't have abs or the perfect flat stomach. What came next was the quest for the perfect stomach, something I never achieved.

Because there is no perfect stomach. There's no perfect body type or waist. There's no universal perfect weight. As much as we all wish there was, there just simply isn't one. I'm now in college and am the absolute happiest I've ever been even while gaining 15 pounds.

Yes, I have stretch marks all over my body.

Yes, I have cellulite on my thighs.

Yes, I have scars that will never go away with any type of treatment.

Yes, I have one tooth that isn't quite perfectly lined up with all of the others.

Yes, I have days where I feel ugly and want to hide under a paper bag.

But I also have days where I feel like I could win Miss American and take on any challenge thrown at me all while wearing liquid lipstick and my favorite pair of booties.

I'm not perfect, and it took me practically my whole life to figure that out. I have flaws upon flaws but that's what makes me Cassidy as opposed to anyone else.