The only thing I want you to be thinking about when you go to the beach is if you have enough sunscreen on. I want you to be so present during your night out with your friends that you get excited to be in the photos with them. I want you to know in your depths that you are lovable regardless of what your body looks like and I want you to be able to guide other people in knowing what is right and pleasurable and good for you. I want you to be able to compliment other folks, understanding that it doesn’t take away from your beauty or strength or brains and I want you to be so sure of yourself that an off handed remark by a stranger on the internet makes you laugh instead of crumble. I want you to be built up so much from the inside that it sets a standard for the people you let into your world. I want you to understand that sometimes your body might prevent you from doing the things you want to do a specific way you want to do them and at the same time I hope that you have the curiosity and innovative thinking that allows you to explore other ways that you can achieve a similar outcome with the body you have. I want you to know that your body’s sole purpose is to keep you alive as long as possible and everything it does, though sometimes doesn’t seem fair, it does it in an effort to keep you here as long as it can. I want you to look at your body with fondness and awe and surprise and delight and when you put your hands on your body, I hope you use soft touches, caresses, and loving connection. When you are in the fitting room and the dress or pants too small I hope you remember that clothes are meant to fit you and not the other way around. I hope that you learn to question the identities that get created to help you survive and I hope you know that you can decide when they no longer fit. I want you to know that your body is not an inconvenience and you are not an inconvenience. I want you to know that you don’t have to give more, settle more, or make up for the body that you have or the way that you act. I want you to realize that 98% of diets fail. I want you to be able to buy makeup or skin care out of joy for expression instead of fear of your natural self. I want you to know that even if you opt to change your body (your body, your choice) your body will still change. And change. And change. Because that’s what bodies do. I want you to realize that people are lucky to be around you. If you must compare yourself to something, I want you to compare yourself to nature - see yourself in nature. I want you to be the one that reminds others how to create a soundtrack of love & compassion. I want you to encourage others to find their uniqueness and see it as a strength. I want you to know that fat isn’t a bad word and neither is skinny and neither is old and neither is young and neither is tall and neither is short and neither is round and neither is thin. I want you to know that words are just words and they are all made up - you get to decide what they mean. I want you to know that the world is 50% good and 50% bad but there are forces out there that will make you think otherwise. Hold onto the good. Also understand that words like “good” and “bad” are based in morality and come with a lot of pressure determined by other people - figure out what those words mean to you and you alone. I want you to know that at the end of the day if you think that no one loves you for the way that you are - I DO. I DO. And most of all, I want you to understand that your body is the body that will be with you from the start until the finish and it would be a hell of a lot easier for you to live your most magical, authentic life if you let your body be a body so that you can be you.