Life is about seeing yourself, being yourself, loving yourself. I’d like to say that I have this whole loving yourself thing down to a science, but the truth is…I don’t. Sometimes, I have this vivid image of who I am and where I’m going and all the wonderful things I’m going to do someday. And…then there are the days where I feel fat so I eat an entire bag of potato chips and tell myself I’ll go run tomorrow. Well, tomorrow comes and I never go run and so I wear the potato chips on my hips until I feel better about myself and maybe I’ll eat some salad with my dressing next time. That’s healthy, right? Somedays, I like to pretend I’m Katherine Heigl – she’s gorgeous (like you!) and then all of a sudden I’m asking myself who I am and what I want to be when I grow up.

So while I’m sitting here writing and telling you to be beautiful and brave, the truth is that I don’t always feel beautiful and brave. And that’s the thing. You can be scared and that’s okay. But loving yourself and staying true to yourself means being brave. It is telling all those people – the magazines, the celebrities, your mother-in-law, the bridal shop lady to shove it (nicely) while you eat your peanut butter and pickle sandwiches and watch Grey’s Anatomy until you turn blue and faint. Whatever makes you, you – just do it. The world is better with the REAL you in it.