“The most controversial thing I have ever done is stick around” – Madonna
-When I got told Instagram was a waste of time, I stuck around
– When I got told my brain tumour surgery would affect my cognitively, I stuck around
– When I got told I was too young to be a life coach at 21 years old, I stuck around
– When I got told I wasn’t going to make it through surgery, I stuck around
– When I got told that my 15 surgeries wasn’t newsworthy unless I lost weight, I stuck around
– When I got told I needed training to appear on TV and radio, I stuck around
– When I got told that Scarred Not Scared was too controversial, I stuck around
– When I got told that I would never be seen as a professional after putting my bikini picture out there, I stuck around
– When I got told that if I did live, I would never live a full life, I stuck around … and proved EVERYONE wrong.
WOW, aren’t there a lot of naysayers in the world?! And now that I feel that body positivity is being threatened by companies, brands and people who are trying to adopt it for their own financial and individual gain, I am sure as hell going to stick around.
You might not welcome me in YOUR body positivity but I am STILL welcome here.
I am not here for the trolls, or the naysayers, or the people in body positivity who refuse to be inclusive.
I am here for every individual who has never seen a scarred body. I am here for every individual who has never seen a person with chronic illness and chronic pain that refuses to be defined by it. I am here for every person who has been told that they can’t, rather than they can because of their medical history. I am here for every person who has been through trauma that has marked their bodies. I am here for every person who has been misjudged and underestimated because of their appearance. I am here for every person that wasn’t accepted in their culture because of their appearance. I am here for every person who has been told that racially, “you aren’t one of us”. You fit in here. You belong here. Don’t get it twisted, body positivity will welcome you with open arms – as long as you do the same for everyone else in the community. Ultimately, I will fight for your rights, even if you won’t fight for mine. #scarrednotscared