I’m just an average person, really I am. I don’t think of myself as amazing, or even really special, I just know I am me and that I am a unique person because I am the only me.
I’ve never been under a size 14 my entire life, ever. But that hasn’t held me back too much, maybe a little in the past, but not anymore. I don’t let anything hold me back anymore. I am me because of my past, and my future and I will not be scared to live this life.
When I was younger I got bullied a little, I look back on it as something that every person experiences, which is not true, not ever person is bullied or made to cry because of things that they can’t control. Bullying is something that happens all the time, it can be so small that no one really notices it, but when you’re on the recieving end of it, you will ALWAYS see and feel it.
I never even thought about being bullied in school until I was talking to a therapist, only then did it occur to me that it wasn’t right and maybe it had an impact on the way that I had been living my life.
Going through highschool I wasn’t really bullied at all, I was at an all girls school and I was starting to at least feel a little more comfortable in my own skin to not let it effect me. Only the scars of the past were still there, I might not have ever been visably upset, but they were there. I was shy, I never really voiced my opinion unless the person was a close friend, I never talked to boys, and I stayed home most of the time, I found refuge in books, movies and music. It was a safety blanket where the people to look up to were not perfect and often shared my own feelings. I stayed in my own little safe bubble, where I was surrounded by the familiar and people I trusted.
Along came university. All of a sudden I was out of my little bubble and in the real world. High school and primary school are such sheltered environments and I was in no way prepared for what happened next in my life. 
This is the point in my life where everything caught up with me, the bullying and everything that I had repressed, everything that I never wanted to think of again. My head and amour just crashed and I couldn’t run away anymore, I had to acknowledge everything. I also had to acknowledge something that I had been running from my whole life, something I always found a way to dismiss as nothing, I had to have a very personal battle with my inner deamons and depression.
I can’t say that being bullied lead to my depression, of course not, it is not something that just switches on and off like that, it is not that simple. I do know that it is probably something that helped make my depression worse, that helped make me into the shy shell of a person that I was. It stripped me of any selfconfidence and respect I had. I thought of myself as the lowest form of human being that could exist, I had no self esteem and no drive to live. I thought I could never amount to anything and that my life would always be this miserable existance that I had become so used to.
I can’t remember what it was that made me change, or what it was that made me make the most important step in my life, but I know one of the driving reasons was the fact that I was slowly loosing my friends, the people that always had a way of making me feel a little at ease, that made me forget that I was so miserable and even make me laugh. They had noticed that my smile had faded and become a rare sight, they were always asking me if I was okay, and I think their concern and their small efforts to stay my friend in this part of my life was one of the things that kept me not only from doing something stupid, but also seeking help.
Seeking help was the single most amazing thing I have ever done. It was by far the hardest thing I have ever done, but by God it has been more than worth it.
I started seeing a therapist, and we talked about everything, from the weather, to movies, to music, to my childhood, to my moodswings, to the boy that I liked. Nothing was off limits and nothing was stupid. There was no judgement, no criticism, nothing.
It was through this that I started to live again, I started to be me again. I began to not care about what people thought of me, my opinion of me was the one that mattered the most and I was beginning to love myself for the first time ever. I was able to look in the mirror, I made an effort with how I dressed. I laughed, I made people laugh. 
It was through all this that I realized that it is not about what you look like, it’s not about how much money you have, the clothes you wear, the music you listen to, the books you read, the friends you have or anything like that. It;s about you. It’s about how you feel, about what you want and about you living your life and loving every second of it.
I haven’t looked back since then. My friends and I are having more fun then ever, our friendships are even stronger and they are just as supposrtive as ever.
I have become a new person. I now have the confidence that was stripped from me, I have the self esteem that I was missing. I’m not perfect, but there is not such thing as perfect. Every one has flaws and that is what makes them so beautiful. I am more beautiful because of the past I have. 
I now work in a plus sized clothing store, and I love it. I make women who have the same body issues I used to have and tell them they are beautiful. There is no perfect body and there is no perfect size.
It took me a lot to get to this place and I am not 100% there, but I know that I am better off loving myself than hating myself. I am better off enjoying what life that I have then wishing it was over. 
The only reason I bothered typing this up is so that at least one other person out there reads it and starts loving themselves, because if you can’t love yourself then how can you love someone else?
I love my life, I love living it and experiencing every up and down, because it’s the only life I am going to get and I’ll be damned if I am going to let it go to waste.
Remeber, you are beautiful, you are loved, and that you are special. There is no other you out there and that makes you the most unique person on the planet. 
xo

You really hit the nail here. Thank you so much for sending this in! You had me in tears. I know someone out there is going to read this and smile, and know everything is okay. Your outlook on life is so beautiful, and I know anyone who comes in contact with you must see you as a blessing.