All your life, people around you are always telling you, when you learn to love yourself--really love who you are--so will everyone else.

Why do I feel like the exception? I'm very pleased with myself and my life right now. I just landed a great new job; I have a great apartment; I'm finally starting to think of myself as attractive; in October my braces come off (not actual braces- I've had Invisalign since last October) and I will finally have a perfect smile that so many people take for granted and that I've waited my whole life for; I'm funny, thoughtful, loyal, passionate... the only thing I would change about myself at the present time is my weight... or, rather, the way I look. I'm not heavy or "fat" (though I despise that word), but I've got some extra I don't need and that is certainly fixable (I think..)

I'm going on 23 and I'm finally learning how to really LOVE myself and who I've become, and now no one else does. I had more friends and boyfriends when I was 20 pounds heavier, unmotivated, and depressed.

Just like everything else I encounter, this is all ass backward.