I think the best compliments are the ones you get when you least expect it. You know, like on those days when you barely made it out the door, your once beautifully blown out hair is now beyond frizzy…again, and you still haven’t decided if your shoes match. Those are the days when you least expect anyone to say something nice about you.

Well, not too long ago, I was having one of those days and I just so happened to cross paths with a friend of mine. Of course, she didn’t realize that I wasn’t feeling so hot that day, so she spoke up and said, “Girl, you have the best body out of anyone I know.” (I’ll skip all of the other embellishment because I would hate for you to think that this post is supposed to be all about me…)

Anyway, in this moment, I realized how the smallest things can sometimes make us feel the most insecure. We are a part of a generation that is constantly being told that our shape, our figure, and our body types are not good enough. Either you have to be thick enough for MTV or you have to diet-thin for South Beach. Anything that doesn’t fit into that picture-perfect image is not good enough. In reality, most of us don’t fit. But, even more truthfully, most of the people who we are comparing ourselves to they don’t fit either.

Now, I’m not one for passing around phony pleasantries, but what I’m saying is that we should make an intentional effort at being more complimentary. Try saying something nice about the people you connect with because you never know what their inner struggles are. Imagine how it would make you feel if a complete stranger told you that you are beautiful.

As women, so many times, we are uncomfortable about our thighs or our booty or our stomachs. Sometimes we have stretch marks or we’re too skinny or not skinny enough. Whatever your poison may be, it’s all the same.

Remember that charm is deceitful and beauty fades, but who you are and how you feel about yourself is something no one can change except you. You have to love you – everything about you. That’s flaws and all.

So…I want to make a special shout out to all of the Big Booty Judys with stretch marks, all the Skinny Minnies in the IBTC, and all the guys with Thunder Thighs. Because of you, our generation hasn’t forgotten the true definition of beauty.