To be a teenager in today's society is one of the hardest things to endure; everyone expects perfection in every aspect of life, and it can be hard to cope when you fall short of that perfection. One hardship I've endured is the issue of body image, something that tears most girls apart. This issue almost ate me alive, basically swallowed me whole.

I'm here today to tell you girls my story of body peace. I took an approach to seeking acceptance that is particularly hard to do, but I did it anyways because I knew it would be the only way to peacefully come to terms with my body.

I've always loved singing; I've been singing now for over seven years. Back then, I would constantly dream about fame: me walking the red carpet in a thousand-dollar designer dress, signing autographs, participating in interviews, taking pictures with all my fans, having the time of my life. Being famous seemed like the best way to live life.

However, the puzzle pieces didn't match. I had (and still have) bad acne that's literally uncontrollable. I'm no twig, I have muscular thighs, love handles, and a bit of a stomach. I'm only 5'4" with no hopes of growing. My hair isn't super thick and my teeth are not white. However, in order to be a superstar, I had to have the opposite of everything I just listed: clear complexion, thick glossy hair, stand at 5'10", weigh 110 lbs, and have big white teeth.

Looking at pictures of Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence demoralized me because they seem so perfect. I knew that I could never possibly look as beautiful as they did without spending hours on make-up alone. And so my dreams of being famous vanished in thin air.

Years later, one day after working with my theater company, I was offered to sing back-up and appear in a music video for this small star (who will remain nameless for purposes). It was no Lady Gaga sort of gig, but it was a start. I was ecstatic! This could finally be my big break! Next I'd be the actual singer and then I'd have a tour and a movie.

For the music video, I wore an incredible amount of make-up; I was almost unrecognizable! My hair looked perfect, my teeth were white, and I actually looked somewhat skinny! I was pretty satisfied with that result, and figured that as long as the camera made me look good, I'd be okay.

Wrong.

After that gig, I slowly made my way up the fame chart and released my first demo album just over a year and a half ago. I made frequent stops around the country trying to promote my album at local malls. Of course, I was always wearing loads of make-up and the cutest clothes. I was living the life.

One day after one of my appearances and being bored to tears, I googled myself and looked at the some of the images of myself. Looking at them made me happy because I actually looked like a superstar. And that's when it hit me: years ago, I was in the same position, looking at a photo of Angelina Jolie and thinking how I'd never look like that. I realized that, though I was no Angelina, girls my age or younger or older were looking at my photos and thinking the same things of themselves: my hair doesn't look like that, I'm not that skinny, I wish I had no acne like her.

I honestly felt terrible. I wanted to delete every picture of me on Google. I was falsely advertising myself to the world, making it look like I was some super model. I was FAR from that! And in that moment, I knew there was only one way to fix this.

I immediately took out my camera and took two pictures: one was a close-up of my face without any make-up done, and the other was a full body shot of my in shorts and a sports bra, without me sucking in my stomach or posing a certain way to flatter my legs. It was all completely natural. I then make a sort of collage of the two photos and added a different picture of me at a mall appearance. I labeled the natural pictures before, the mall one after. I then turned to my Facebook and Instagram and posted the picture with the following description:

"This is my apology for deceiving you guys. Years ago and even now, I was in the same place as you guys: sitting in my computer chair and scrutinizing my body for not looking like a model's body. And here I am now, putting on pounds of make-up and squeezing into designer jeans so I can add to your low self-body-esteem. And so as an apology, I have posted these photos of the real me. As you can see, I'm a normal teenage girl, just like the rest of you. You can't even count the number of pimples I have, and see how my stomach sticks out? I'm not perfect; I'm far from it! I know you all can relate. And so I'm posting this to show you girls that it's okay to have acne. It's okay to not be stick-thin or have straight teeth or be the tallest girl in your class. I want you to be in peace with your body. You all are beautiful, don't let some doctored photo tell you otherwise!"

Honestly, it took a few deep breaths to click the upload button. I was finally revealing my real self to thousands of people, not sure of how they would react. But I knew that this was the only way I'd find peace within myself.

After I posted the photo, I didn't log onto Facebook for almost a week. I was so scared that all my comments would be negative and I'd loose have my fan base because of my daring move. But instead, I got something much more welcoming.

The photo I posted received almost 10,000 comments (which is a lot for a small breakout star like me), supporting me for my decision to post the photo. My wall was filled with girls posting unedited pictures of themselves and proclaiming their body peace. And my fan base had actually almost doubled! People were sharing my photo and exclaiming how brave I was for posting that photo and how I was even more beautiful without the editing and make-up. I spent hours looking at the pictures and reading every single comment; I had really connected with my audience and I felt better than ever!

Now, I know this approach is not for everybody; a lot of people may not be as accepting as others. I don't necessarily recommend this method of finding body peace. However, I do encourage you all to do something, whether it's writing yourself a note or posting an unedited picture, to find your body peace. Once you do, you will honestly feel more beautiful than ever!

And on that note, I want to conclude by telling you all that, although I don't even know you or know what you look like, I can already tell you are beautiful people. Don't let anyone or anything tell you otherwise! :)