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A Letter to Me…at 15

Dear 15-year-old Monique,

I’m going to make this short and to the point.

Stop it! Stop it right now! Stop hating your body. Stop hating your hair. Stop envying the “popular” girls. And please stop wishing you weren’t you. You are amazingly beautiful, inside and out. Yes, you’re misunderstood. And of course life sucks as a teenager.

But when you get older, it’s not going to matter that you had acne or that your mom didn’t let you wear makeup or date until you were 16. You’re not going to care that the boy you had a crush on didn’t like you back. And you truly won’t care that you didn’t look like the girls in Seventeen Magazine.

I promise you you’re going to love yourself one day. More than you thought you ever could. You’re going to embrace your brown skin, black hair, and all that comes along with being Latina. You’ll look at your yearbook and laugh…really hard by-the-way. And you’ll realize that you have an amazing life, wonderful friends and family, and a husband who loves you for who you are.

And all of those moments you wished you were thinner, prettier, and popular will fade away. You will accept yourself for all that you are…I promise.

Love,

35-year-old Monique

Me…15-years-old…a freshman in high school.

 

This post was written as part of the About Curves second annual “Lingerie Loves Your Curves” (LLYC) Charity Blog-a-thon Event.

Bloggers from all over the world will be writing about positive body image and self-love in an effort to help raise money to go toward the National Organization for Women (NOW). Get more info here.

Monique

Living and loving life in L.A. with my hubby and two fur babies. I am a proud curvy Latina woman! Blogging and bringing people together is my passion. I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world!

  • Bigfat Sexgoddess

    Beautifully written! Here’s mine…

    Dear Daisy,

    Wow, aren’t you thin? Shush, you are. Size 16 is next to nothing, particularly when you compare it to almost size 30 which is what you’ll be by the time you’re my age.

    How old am I? Oh ancient. Almost 47. So yeah, practically dead as far as you’re concerned. You need to stop thinking that though, because the last 30 years have absolutely flown by for me as they will for you too.

    The most important thing I’m here to tell you is this – be who you are. There is no need to try and be anything or anybody different.

    It’s pointless me telling you this of course. You will continue to try to be all things to all people, drowning under the weight of your perception of their expectation, for at least the next ten years.

    Soon after that though, you will just wake up one morning and think “enough”. Amd almost overnight your life will change. I wish I could make you come to that realisation sooner, but I guess everything you have to go through before then is what has shaped me into who I am – and who you will be.

    It sounds trite to say “everything will turn out okay” – but it really will. You’re never going to be rich, or famous, or wildly successful, but you will always have just about enough – enough money, enough love, enough hope, but never quite enough time, so make the most of every minute.

    Pick your battles wisely, stand up for what you believe in. YOU really do only get one shot and this is not a rehearsal!

    I wish I could protect you from some of the hurt that is coming your way, but it’s enough to know that you are strong enough to deal with it.

    Stop beating yourself up about the way you look. All your friends might be thinner than you, but go and ask them if they are all 100% happy with their looks. If they say they are, just give them a knowing look. No one is. We all have the little things we would like to change. We just have to make the best of what we’ve got – honey, sooner rather than later, stop draping yourself in maternity clothes. You’re a teenager and you’re not pregnant! Celebrate your curves. A sofa covered in the biggest plainest throw you can find is still a sofa – it is not going to blend into the background just because it’s covered up.

    People ARE going to stare at your ass – give them something to stare at!

    If I was sensible, I would be sending you some lottery numbers that you would find pretty useful – but you and I both know that actually, neither of us are all that sensible and in my experience (and yours too as you will come to find out) – the best prizes are often the ones you weren’t expecting.

    Life has a funny way of dealing you a good hand every now and then – make sure you play your cards right.

    Lots of love (yeah, I do love me – I know YOU don’t right now, but you will)

    Daisy. xxx

    • CURVESandCHAOS

      Thank you for sharing Daisy! Awesome letter!!

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