I can’t say that I will always have a positive view of my body, but I can say that I am more comfortable with my body than I have ever been. With most things, this didn’t happen over night. I didn’t wake up one day suddenly loving my body and everything about it. The truth is I still do not like a lot about my body, but I still wouldn’t change it.

It took a lot of self-love for me to accept everything about my body. I’m not the type of person who is good at loving who I am and its something I’m trying to work on. I am a rather negative person towards myself. I lived in a town where girls were taught that their bodies should be covered. I grew up scared of trying to be comfortable in my skin because I was told to always be modest.

I felt a lot of self-hate towards myself and how I looked. I hated how chubby I was or how big my thighs were. I wore baggy clothing to cover myself up and refused to wear short shorts. I constantly wore basketball shorts and hoodies. I was ashamed and I didn’t want to look stylish or pretty because I didn’t feel like I was or could be any of those things. Not that basketball shorts and hoodies are not stylish or anything bad, I just personally wore them because I felt ashamed of myself.

After a long battle with myself I started embracing my body and wearing things that made me feel sexy. I wore tank tops to show my arms and slowly I started wearing clothes that I liked and felt good in. Only, I still hated my body because I felt people were judging me.

I was told many times when wearing certain clothing that I needed to cover up or that my cleavage was showing and I should put something on to cover them up. The truth is, maybe they were showing, but they are boobs. They are not sexual objects. They are just apart of my body.

Positive thoughts didn’t start sinking in until I came to college. I attend a college were wearing what you want is the norm and showing yourself off to the world is a great thing. I love the positivity and embracing of all bodies at my school. I love that everyone is okay with whatever you want to do with your body as long as its on your terms and not someone else’s. I loved that people actually encouraged to do whatever I wanted with my body.

I realized that loving my body is a good thing and that people who try to control my self-love are wrong to do so. I am not saying someone has to wear something sexy to feel good. What I am saying is to wear and do what makes you feel comfortable with your body. I enjoy looking sexy at times and I also like being casual. Most importantly I learned to love myself and stop hating my body because other people weren’t okay with what I was doing. This will not happen over night, but I hope one day you will love your body too.