How to define YOU

What defines me? 

Style? Makeup? Personality? Shoe size? Weight? Sexual orientation?

No. None of that. I refuse to be defined. I refuse to be smushed and molded by society into their definition of "pretty." I refuse to become someone I'm not so that I can "fit in" to this stereotype that women have created for themselves or that men have created for women. I say no. It stops here, now, with me.

My weight does not define me. My sexual orientation doesn't define me. Not my favorite color, favorite food, or my political party. I chose how I am defined. I choose who I am. No one else can tell me who to be, what to do, what to think. Stop living up to someone else's standards, or dropping to them for that matter. BE YOURSELF. Respect yourself because YOU say so. Love your body because it continues to protect, serve, embrace, and carry you every day.

Find someone who loves you for exactly who you are. Someone who loves you when you can't decide what you want for dinner, when you're crying and your mascara is running down your face, when you're laughing so hard no sound comes out, when catch you stealing the pickle off their plate while eating lunch, when you decide that it's is a no-shower kind of day, when you drag them on errands, and when you tell them that your dog ate their PS3 controller. Find someone who tells you that you're beautiful when you feel fat, or who lets you choose to watch ghost stories on Netflix even though it freaks them out. Find someone who wants to teach you how to play their favorite game, someone who will eat at Olive Garden with you for the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks every time you want to go out to lunch somewhere, and someone who tells you that they will share their orange gummy bears with you even though they are their favorite.

Be exactly who you want to be. Be the person who screams with absolute happiness every time you drive past a groundhog, or cries when they run over the suicidal squirrel who jumped out in front of the car. The person who can watch the same movie over and over again simply because it never stops making them happy. Be a person you can admire. Someone you can look back and be proud of. Someone who never has to ask "what if" because they already know. Wear white after labor day, sandals in November, and long sleeves at the beach. Cry when you see the Sarah McLachlan commercial about abused pets.

Vote for who you want. Don't feel like you have to answer questions you don't want to. Don't be afraid to admit when you fail because you learned from it. Stop hating the little details that make you who you are. If you don't like something, then change it, or learn to live with it.

Stick to your morals. If you say you're going to do something, do it. Keep your promises. Be faithful. Be just. Be honest. Be respectful. Stand behind your opinions when you're right, and admit when you're wrong.

Don't give a damn about what anyone else thinks about you.

Live your life for yourself.

Define yourself.

Be you.