Coming to Terms with my Height

 I haven't always loved my height. I shot up to my current height of 5' 10.5" right around 8th grade, which was also the first year I attended public school. The junior high I went to was small, with only about 350 students total, and I was by far one of the tallest people at school, including most of the teachers.

For an impressionable, somewhat awkward, still developing thirteen year old, standing out so much was devastating. The astute observation, "you're tall..." was said to me at least twice a day every day. Not only was I tall, I was definitely more developed than most of the girls. My friends were jealous of my bra size, but I felt self-conscious all the time. I wanted more than anything to be shorter and smaller.

#TallGirlProblems 

Most of the boys in my grade looked like I could babysit them. Some seemed to regard me with fear and awe. After creaming a boy in a class arm wrestling competition, I didn't feel happy and proud, I felt like a freak. Not only that, but finding clothes that fit in the styles my friends wore was nearly impossible. I hated that I couldn't fit into the clothes in the juniors section, and that finding stylish jeans long enough was but a faint and impossible dream.

Going to a bigger high school, as well as gaining more self-confidence, made some of my height insecurity go away. I still remember, though, one time that I wore high heels to a church dance. I didn't get asked to dance once the entire night, and my fifteen year old self vowed bitterly to never wear heels to a dance again. 

Soon enough, however, I began to see some perks in my height. I had several opportunities to get things off the top shelf at the grocery store for cute old people. I found that it wasn't so bad after all to stand out. I started shopping more and finding clothes that fit that I felt pretty in, and realized that having a tall, curvy body was a blessing, not a curse. Just in the last year, I started wearing high heels when I want to. I actually enjoy feeling tall and strong. 

 It took a long time, but today, my twenty five year old self wishes I could tell that insecure thirteen year old girl that she should love herself more. It isn't bad to stand out. Height, weight, curly hair, straight hair, thin figure, curvy figure, thin figure... it's all good. Our physical characteristics are just a part of us, and we can embrace and love them all. The only person you need approval from is yourself.  

We should all throw our shoulders back and proudly present who we are to the world. We should all stand tall no matter our height! We are all beautiful, powerful women capable of doing great things. Don't let something as silly as your height keep you from sharing yourself with the world.