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Dear 20-Something Me
This article first appeared on West Michigan Woman.
Oh, if only I could prepare you for what you’re about to endure over the next several years.
You will laugh, you will cry, and you will experience some of the worst pain in your heart that you will ever feel in this life. If I could stop time and somehow get a message to you before you (I? We? Us? How do monologue style essays go?) head into your emotional, yet exhilarating 20s, this is what I would say:
Your body is beautiful.
You will be surrounded by thousands of bodies as you go throughout college and beyond. None will look like yours. Some will be slimmer, some will be larger, but they are not yours. Your hormones will be fluctuating and regulating as you become the adult you are — some days you will feel a little puffier, and other days you will feel on top of the world. This is normal — you are a woman. It comes with the territory, and you are beautiful anyway. You are your own body, heart and soul, and it is lovely. The world will tell you to look a certain way, and it will give you dangerous tools to try and get you there. Diuretics, laxatives, fat burners, and starving yourself may bring you down a size or two, but it will come with a mountain of issues that will nearly kill you. My heart aches for you as I watch you look at other women around you and wish you had a…
