if i was queen of the world, what would i change? i'd like to think that i would tackle world peace or starvation or slavery but really... i decree that we should all find the beauty in ourselves!

i look back on myself as a 17 year old. i had little confidence in my beauty and often tied my self-worth to being liked by a boy. but now i can honestly look back and see how beautiful i was. i was at my PRIME people! and i took it for granted. my tummy was flat, my belly button perfect. everything was still sitting exactly where it *should* be. i wore a size 5. and yet i was constantly worrying about how i looked, what other people might think of me. what could i say to that insecure girl to wake her up to her beauty?

so why can't we as women be happy with who we are, today? we're always seeking to be something more (or often less) than we are right now. in 20 years i will look back on this time of my life and say, "why wasn't i happier? i had so much going for me in my life..." what would the future me say to me now?

all of us age, all of us get wrinkles, stretch marks and extra jiggles. so why hate it? why not embrace ourselves right now as we would if we could go back and tell the 17 year old us, *be happy with what you've got, because you're MORE than beautiful!* what would the future us come back and say to us today?

true beauty is found in every woman's mirror. when you look at your best friend you never seek to find her imperfections, you simply accept her as herself. and yet, when we look at ourselves we seek to find every negativity. we need to be more gentle.

right now i am 25 pounds from *healthy,* i am stretched marked from my chest to my calves, i still have acne, the list could go on... but it won't because i'm choosing to stop. i actually feel more at peace with myself today than i ever have. i feel beautiful, sexy, creative, intelligent, confident... and this list will continue to grow. now when i look in the mirror i try to find my favorite thing about myself in that moment. not in the spirit of narcissism, but to try to find peace with myself.
as i look back at the 17 year old me, how could i convince her of her beauty? and as i think of my future self... what would she say now?