I was watching this TV show with my mom called “My Big Foot” or something like that. I don’t remember exactly. Well it was a little documentary on a woman who had an infected foot that spread up her leg making it nearly impossible to wear pants, shoes, or even walk. The disease she had was very similar to elephantitis, called Lymphedema.

Anyhow, as I watched this show, I felt so horrible for the lady and hoped she could find a way to cure her leg so could live her life normally. Then I looked at my own leg, examining it, and for a moment it was like I had never really LOOKED at my leg before.

Then my mom said, “And you complain about cellulite.”

I grimaced, but she was right. Here I was with perfectly normal and healthy legs, a fit and strong body (I wear a size 3), but I was too obsessed with getting rid of the cellulite that was on my butt and thighs. Whereas, this woman on TV was trying to remove the built up fluid in her leg and foot so that she could walk without a cane and maybe indulge in a stiletto shoe. I hope she can find treatment.

I know that for us girls we have a hard time really accepting our bodies and being content. We constantly strive to look like what is advertised as beautiful, in order to be happy with ourselves, in order to attract others. I am quite guilty of always obsessing over the newest imperfection of my body. First it was my nose, then it was my teeth, then my weight, then my butt, and not all in that order. Instead, I should look in the mirror, see that my legs are intact, I have all four limbs, I have all my teeth, I am in shape, I am healthy, and then say, “I’m beautiful!”

My friend Anthony had to smack me in the face a couple of times to get me to wake up and see that I am beautiful. That I shouldn’t compare myself to others, that I shouldn’t waste my time obsessing over my looks. He told me that there was nothing wrong with me, that every imperfection I saw was a figment of my imagination. Nobody else could see it.

He was right. There’s no point in wasting our time over body imperfections. They aren’t really imperfections at all, rather they are what makes us unique and interesting. And if there is anyone to tell you otherwise…like fixing the cellulite on your butt…fuck them. And then tell them to look in the mirror every morning and say, “I am beautiful!”

That’s what I’m doing and surprisingly it’s working.