We are growing up in a world that does not always accept us how we are. It’s always either too tall or too short, too skinny or too fat, etc. It’s a lose-lose situation no matter the circumstance. It’s always nice to hear some encouragement in a world where we, especially as girls, are surrounded by negativity all the time.

Martina McBride says it the best in her song "This One's for the Girls":

"This one's for the girls, Who've ever had a broken heart, Who've wished upon a shooting star, You're beautiful the way you are, This one's for the girls, Who love without holdin' back, Who dream with everything they have, all around the world, this one's for the girls."

Being a girl is hard. There is no way to sugarcoat it and make it sound easy. From a young age, we are taught that the world is a cruel place; that we should not speak our mind all the time (even if it needs to be spoken.) We are told that we have to maintain the “perfect” body image or we are considered fat. The issue with this is that once we're at that “perfect” body image, we become “too skinny”, and we are told that we are not good enough if we are not a part of the "cool kids" at school.

I'm here to say, so what. You are made in a unique image. You are given unique gifts, use them. Do not hide your talents because people might judge you. You are only young once, so do not let the fear of what the world will say hold you from expressing whatever way you choose. Wear what you want to wear, eat what you want to eat, and live how you want to live. You are only given one life, choose to live it to the absolute fullest.

To the girls in high school, this is a time for you to be finding yourself, not losing yourself while trying to fit in with that clique that you think is the best thing ever. You are going to have friends who love you and enemies who hate you, so be ready for it all. I hate to break it to you, but you’re always going to have people who don’t like, or don’t agree with you. You will never be happy if you always try to please other people, so instead make yourself happy and those who want to be around for it will be, and those who don’t, then they obviously aren’t the kind of people you want to surround yourself with anyways.

To the girls out there who love a little too hard, or who wish upon every single shooting star; keeping loving and keeping wishing. Nothing is stopping you from doing what you want. You are your own person, love till you cannot love anymore, and keep wishing on those shooting stars, because at some point your wish will come true. As Marilyn Monroe once said: “Keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.”

We as girls come in all different sizes and shapes. We all have different dreams and qualities that make us our own person. Your personality is what makes you so special. So at the end of the day, when you have to choose between being you and fitting in the crowd, make sure you choose yourself.