“‘What did I do wrong?’ It took many years to learn about that question. To say I was crushed is an understatement. I was numb. My ex-boyfriend was trying to teach me all along. Be selfish.”
‘His opinions became my own. ‘You need to figure out who you are.’ I was terrified of being alone.’: After toxic relationship, woman turns to yoga, ‘I finally know who I am’
‘I don’t really like black people, but you’re different.’ I shrank inside myself. I couldn’t change my skin, but I could lose every identifiable piece of who I was to blend in.’: Woman recalls experiences with racism, ‘I’m no longer a scared little girl’
“After months of being teased about my accent, my clothes, my hair, my body, I had no wherewithal to speak up when the N-word came out of the mouth of someone I considered a friend. I froze. I spent the rest of the year working hard to drop my accent. I got quiet. I learned not to raise my hand, because the teacher would make it a point to humiliate me anyway.”
‘Hey sister, wear the shorts. You see dimples, cellulite. I see a woman who deserves to feel beautiful in whatever she chooses.’: Woman urges ‘confidence looks beautiful on you’
“Confidence looks beautiful on you, sis. Wear it proudly.”
‘A middle-aged woman stopped me at the gym. ‘You are so pretty. You could be a model if only you lost weight!’ I’d just lost 140 pounds.’: Woman urges ‘being fat will never take away my self-worth’
“She stopped me as I was leaving the gym. The rage I felt in my teen years surged back right under the surface, and for the rest of the week, I stewed on this backhanded compliment. ‘If I lost weight…’ I had just lost 140 pounds and never felt better.”
‘This morning I got some horrible news: ‘Models who aren’t a size 0 are called plus size.’ My body isn’t risky or brave, it’s normal.’: Woman learns lesson on body positivity, ‘I realized it’ll take more than 30 days to do’
“Even skin conditions you have no control over will have people asking you questions about your ability to ‘keep yourself.’ I said I would make it my mission to spend 30 days working on body acceptance. When the 30 days were up, I got some horrible news. I realized, it’ll take more than 30 days to do.”
‘My girl is nice, but if only I could have THAT! Why would anyone choose you?’: Woman pens self-love letter, ‘If you want love, you’ve got to love yourself first’
“‘Wow, she’s gained weight! She could use a little help. Is she even trying?’ You scroll through your feed and see SO MANY girls who are so much prettier than you. They have so many better options.”
‘Never apologize for what you want. You have to go for it. You can’t compare your path with the path of others.’: Woman says ‘forge your own way and own it’
“You have the entire world at your finger tips, but that world is whatever you decide to make it. We cannot apologize for the things we want when and if they do not fall in line with the expectations the world has set for us.”
‘The pizza guy treated me like a whole different person when I gained weight. I liked my body skinnier. Men wouldn’t brush me off.’: Woman struggling with body positivity says ‘it’s about you, screw the pizza guy!’
“My body wanted acceptance. I wanted acceptance.”
‘Teachers change students’ lives, they tell you. I can honestly say ‘my kids’ saved my life. Their love is a constant in an ever-changing world.’: Teacher pens appreciation letter to students, shares 10 pieces of advice for seniors
“I had to take leave of my job and relearn to walk, cut my own food, and wash my own hair. There was no other option. Immediately, the emails and cards started pouring in from my kids. I was determined I would make it back to them.”
‘A friend gifted me ‘booty leggings.’ I was so excited to try them. When they arrived in the mail, they had no tag, no size, no number.’: Woman urges ‘I’m more than a number, and so are you’
“I wondered what size she sent me. When I saw them, I was caught off guard. Just a pair of leggings. No numbers. But maybe a message.”
