I decided to accept the “500 Words” challenge and make it even more interesting for myself; pick a topic that deserves endless words, in order to emphasize the key points.

Self-love. This is such an under-rated topic but I cannot stress enough how infinitely important it is. With societal expectations, it seems as though no one is happy with who they are. There are impossible expectations constantly put on our backs, a weight none of us needs. It weighs you down, makes every day more of a struggle, if only we could be free of this burden, for it to be lifted off our shoulders so we could prosper as we are meant to.

Everyone is beautiful, everybody deserves to be celebrated. It is about time we stop trying to be what society tells us to be; between the “thigh-gap trend”, the endless photo shopped models on magazines, the infamous “no-makeup” makeup look. It is exhausting.

As a society we should be celebrating the differences in our bodies and loving them, instead of telling everyone exactly how to look.

There are so many stereotypes on what we "need" to look like. For guys it goes something like: tall, dark and handsome, muscular, etc. For girls: skinny, thigh-gap, long hair, achieve the “no makeup” makeup look without putting any makeup on.

These expectations are so unrealistic and ultimately would make for a very bland and boring culture. People are not meant to blend together, they are meant to stand out.

On a related topic, with so many people feeling as though they cannot love themselves as they are, they look to other people to do it for them. I’ve watched many of my friends go through this, they aren’t secure in who they are so they turn to a guy for help feeling loved. This is a disastrous idea. You cannot and should not look to someone to fill a void only you can fill. If you cannot love yourself for everything you are and everything you are not; if you cannot see the beauty within yourself, how will a relationship last under such pressure? Relationships are so much more fulfilling when they are entered with both people loving themselves first. I’ll even go as far as saying life is so much more fulfilling with learning to love who you are.

For those who struggle with self- love, it’s okay. We all have been in your position at some point in varying degrees. So here are my tips to you:

• Every morning, look in the mirror and name one thing that you love about yourself. As much as this may seem corny, it truly helps.
• Tell your inner critic to stop. Try your best to not judge others and return the same courtesy onto yourself.
• Stop comparing. We as humans compare things all the time, but the one thing that should never be compared are people.

Self-love is a very underated topic in today's society but I will never stop preaching its importance.