Nobody puts baillee in the corner

I’ve been hearing about the idea of the “high school body” more and more. I only graduated six years ago, and women my age are already seeking to regain the bodies they had in high school. Now, my dear readers, as you have deducted by now, I am the queen of body positivity. If you want to work out and eat healthy without harming yourself, go for it. If you don’t want to work out and want to eat ice cream everyday without harming yourself, go for that too. However, I don’t think it’s safe to hold yourself to “high school body” standards.

Your body is constantly changing, and your high school body marked the beginning of everything. A bunch of really weird physical and psychological things were going on then (see John Mulaney’s sketch about being angry and horny all of the time), so it’s not fair to compare adult you to high school you. High school you probably shopped at PacSun and Hot Topic (adult Baillee still does), drank blue Monster or Starbucks frappes everyday (for the sake of my stomach lining, I stopped), and owned a pink Razor or Slvr (bonus points for that sweet antennae charm). Your ideas of independence came from DCOMs and angry pop punk singers with side bangs and shag cuts. You had no real concepts of money. High school you wasn’t the best you because the best you is yet to come.

Current you is working on figuring out what’s next. You’re working hard at your job and/or grad school. You probably spend your nights eating pizza and drinking beer with your friends while watching Netflix or playing trivia games. You sometimes get stressed, but you still have a lot of opportunities and fun times to be thankful for. Future you has a job they love. Future you may or may not have a family. Future you is the perfect balance of kid and adult. In my humble opinion, those yous sound pretty awesome.

To make room for all of these awesome things that are happening or are yet to come, your body has to change to reflect what’s going on. So what if you have a different cup, waist, or shoe size? You’re working on becoming a better and better you. That’s what matters, not that you can’t wear your high school prom dress anymore. Just know each time your body changes, it signifies coming one step closer to the best you.

P.S. Past you would probably be reading this on Xanga or MySpace, so there’s another thing to be thankful for.