There are tons of shows on television that tell us what beauty is and I'm not even going to talk about commercials. The show on right now is Plastic Makes Perfect and this particular episode is having a teenager getting a nose job. She's already a model and her parents are going along with this and even paying for it. Is it a good idea? Will it give her short term happiness that will translate into long term happiness? Just because someone doesn't have to learn to love themselves in spite of perceived defects and they have the money to fix those defects, is it really a bad thing?

Probably.

What I love about me is me. I am who I am, but I've had some rough times with liking myself because of my weight. The biggest thing that bothers me about it now is the unhealthiness of it.

I guess the thing that breaks my heart is that it takes so long for some people to learn that. I'm so scared for my niece because I don't want her to have to have that pain. The pain for me was part of what made me humble. If I hadn't gone through that, I don't know if I would be where I am today.

Everyone is different and learns differently. Maybe pain isn't necessary to learn, but maybe it is.