All you beautiful people

When I was nine, my ten year old cousin sent me a card saying "friends come in all shapes and sizes, but my best friend comes in only one shape and size:yours"
The thing is though, it wasn't my birthday, it wasn't new years, I wasn't ill, and it definitely wasn't Christmas. So why did she send me the bloomin' card ?
Well, it wasn't until I grew up a little, that I realised she did this out of the good of her own heart- no personal gains what so ever. It was then that I realised I was one hell of a lucky girl- everyone needs a cousin/friend/dog to remind them how great they are from time to time, because the ugly truth is that everyone can feel under the weather every once in a while.

Take me for instance: a couple of days ago, I was standing in front of the bathroom mirror, sulking at my lack of curves, my lack of thigh gap, and my lack of, well, body confidence. And trust me when I tell you, I spent an ashamedly large amount of time in a hole of my own self pity, before realising that this was just not worth it. 
I want to tell you now, girls and boys of the internet, you are beautiful. 
It may not feel like it on certain days, and that's okay. You may also not be completely happy with your body, and that's okay too. It takes time to accept yourself. And, if you want to lose weight or whatever, that's cool, but just make sure you don't beat yourself up about this whenever you start to feel fat or ugly. 
Loads of teenagers/adolescents/human beings feel just like this, and in an odd way, that's sort of reassuring: at least we're not alone. 
I realise now that beauty doesn't necessarily mean being a size six runway model- though it can be- just like it can mean being a size 12, 16, or 20 model. 
I realise this eight years after getting that card, even though the truth was staring at me in the face this entire time.