Have you ever seen “A Goofy Movie”? If you have, you probably remember the horrifying nightmare Max had where his teeth grow twenty times their size. Yeah, I know this scene scarred you for life too. Well, think about this becoming a REALITY.

Despite the three years and $5000 of braces, I still have less than ideal teeth. Sure, my teeth are fairly straight, but I have these unfixable gaps between my first four teeth (thanks a lot, Dad). Some days I don’t even think twice about them. But other days, I feel very aware of these "grand canyons." I become especially self conscious when I’m talking to someone with perfect pearly whites all close together and whatnot, or when I go to my dental checkup and the hygienist completely skips over flossing between these teeth. What a confidence booster, am I right?

On these days when I’m feeling very self-conscious, it isn’t much fun. I don’t feel like talking to people or smiling because I don’t want to draw attention to my gaps. My boyfriend is constantly trying to get me to smile so he can see my teeth. I’m not really sure why he wants to stare at my weirdly placed teeth so badly, but I certainly don’t like the attention on my mouth. When he does manage to get me to smile after a torturous round of tickling, he tells me that my smile is beautiful.

Well, guess what? He’s right. I may not have my teeth shoved next to each other, but who cares? Who’s to say that teeth have to conform to a certain standard? It’s kind of cool that I have a rebellious set of chompers. They may not be the prettiest, but I’d consider the ability to hold a toothpick between your teeth with no hands is pretty cool. (Right?!)

I guess what I’m trying to say is if you’re self conscious about something, let’s try to start embracing it. No one is ever going to look the same and I honestly believe society's standards of “beauty” are pretty flawed. There’s no point is trying to obtain these crazy standards. I mean, if we all try to achieve the ideal look everyone is going for, then no one is going to be unique. These insecurities are just a part of what makes all of us look different and

beautiful. I know it’s going to take some serious change of thought, but join me in beginning to shift into thinking- no, knowing, that your physical insecurity, whatever it may be, is what makes you YOU and YOUare beautiful.