How often do you walk through a crowd of people and stumble upon someone and your instant thought is something positive? How often are you scrolling through the Internet or flipping through a magazine and gaze at people and just appreciate their attractiveness? You would be surprised, but actually, quite frequently, sometimes without even realizing it. Now think of this, how often do you look in the mirror, gaze at yourself, and think those same thoughts?

At a young age I found that beauty and your waist size were directly correlated in the world of beauty and acceptance. I also discovered, that I was not a mere size zero or even a size six, but a socially unaccepted thirteen. This two-digit number had complete control over my self-esteem and perception of myself because society and the world of beauty told me it did.

That minuscule number dictated my outlook on myself for nearly nine of my seventeen years of life. Something so futile as the labeled size of my cloths brought me grief and so much distress and for what purpose? To bring my self esteem down? To have my self-acceptance and love of myself depleted and drained?

Around two years ago I became conscious to the extent of my self-contempt. I realized this when I could no longer look in the mirror for sheer distaste for my own reflection. And it hit me, why should something so pointless and agonizingly trivial as the number on my jeans make me feel so horrid.

As I became more enlightened about myself and who I was mentally and personality wise, I realized just how much my unnecessary and constant disgusted thoughts about my body image were. For the first time in 17 years, I was comfortable with myself and who I was. No sooner did I feel this euphoria of self acceptance did I also experience another type of realization; Nearly everyone around me had also been mislead to believe their body image was the sole characteristic that determined their self worth.

We are in an era where the popular opinion and norm for people is to dislike themselves and how they look. Where acknowledging your own beauty is considered vain, arrogant even. This trend needs to be put to rest and the era of self-love and appreciation needs to be taught and brought to life.