Why is it that we let a number on the tag of our clothing measure the amount of beauty that we hold? Why do we worry so much

For practically as long as I can remember, I have been in a constant battle with body image problems, and I'm sure most of you have as well. Now, we can all sit here and blame the media, blame photographers and magazines and models for putting out images of unnaturally skinny girls, and blame the editing companies for creating an unrealistic image of their models with Photoshop for the world to see. Or we can take responsibility for ourselves and our minds and understand that the problem is not just the media. That we, as girls, look at ourselves in the mirror every morning and pick out our insecurities instead of our beautiful traits. Yes, the media has created an unrealistic image and has caused young girls across the country to strive for unreachable body types and beauty, but, why can't we as females retrain our brains to see our beauty without the vision of these unrealistic models in our minds?

Whether you are a size two who is insecure about her waist being too straight or her smile and eyes not being just right, or you are a size 12 who wishes her hips were just a little bit smaller and that her thighs wouldn't rub when she walked, we are all beautiful just the same. There are people out there who are going to try to tell you different, they are going to try to tear you down, and that's okay. I like to remind myself that people who do shame others for their image in this world are those who are most insecure about themselves. It's obvious to me tat they themselves can not find a way to love their own image, so they shoot down yours to make themselves feel better. You can not take it to heart. I don't want you to spend the rest of your life living in someone else's shadows, striving to be something different because someone once told you that you smiled too big or you had too much of a stomach. I mean lets face it, people are going to hate on you regardless of what you do. You weigh too much? You must be too fat. You lose a bunch of weight? You must be unhealthy. Your teeth are yellow? You are dirty. Your teeth are white? Your smile is too obnoxious. There will always be flaws and there will always be people to remind you of those flaws everyday. Do not let them get to you.

You are beautiful. Flaws and all. And I know it's hard to see, I know it's hard to look at yourself in the mirror everyday with love and excitement and happiness for the image that you were born with, but just a little bit of positivity can turn your whole day around. Know that the image that you were blessed with is just as beautiful as you make it. Confidence brings out the beauty in everyone. Walk around everyday with your head held high, showing off the beauty that you know you have and flaunting your flaws like they are your perfections everywhere you go. Wake up every morning and tell yourself that you are your own definition of perfect. That you are your own definition of beautiful, and that today, you are going to go out into this world and shoot down all the body shamers, shoot down all the people who once told you that you can't, the ones who once told you that you smile too big or that your gut was not the right size, or anything in between. Show them that they are wrong and that you are happy with yourself, with every last beautifully perfect aspect of your own body and your own mind and that you don't need to change anything about yourself.

Someone once told me that there is someone out there for everyone, and that person will see you as perfect, but just know that you can be that person for yourself. You do not need to wait for someone to call you perfect, you can do it yourself first.