All women have been there before at some point and time: looking at themselves in the mirror for hours wishing their body image looked a different way then it does. Women wishing they could be thinner, have a prettier face, become taller, have more curves, a bigger butt…

The list of things women wish they can change about their body image goes on and on. I have some of these thoughts myself: that if only I had a smaller waist and a six-pack abs, then, and only then, I could learn to love my body.

Why do we, women feel this way? Why can’t the majority of women accept how they look and know that they are a rose in the concrete no matter what?

That’s too easy to answer. The media plays a big part in the standards set for women on what they think a good body type is. From magazines, billboards and television, the model body type has been praised as beauty for years.

We, as women, need to encourage ourselves: that we can find beauty in ourselves with any type of body image we have. And we need to understand that if you have certain issues that we want to fix about our bodies, then we should fix it in a safe manner. If you feel you’re over weight then diet responsibly. If you feel you want a bigger butt or flatter stomach, then do exercises for it and put in the work. Just make sure whatever you decide to do that you do it for yourself, not for a man, not for society but for yourself.

I have had to learn that I can go my entire life trying to look how society betrays the perfect body image or I can just accept my body for the way it is. Love yourself and your body because you’re fabulous no matter what.