October 18^th is Love Your Body Day! Don’t forget to love your body this fine Wednesday (and every day). The campaign, created by the National Organization for Women, aims to bring awareness to the narrow and unrealistic standards of female beauty that media—such as TV, movies and advertising—as well as the fashion and beauty industries present. More importantly, Love Your Body Day is a chance to empower girls and women by spreading positive messages about being healthy and loving yourself!

It’s unfortunately super normal to have self-esteem and body image issues. But when you hear someone telling you to “love yourself” or “feel great about your body,” you are not instantly going to be cured of all the negative thoughts you may have about your body. We’re taught that there must be something wrong with the way we look if we look differently than the models and actresses we see on TV and in magazines. How amazing would it feel to be confident, secure and happy with our bodies?! So, on this Love Your Body Day, we compiled some tips on how to feel better about the beautiful body you have!

TIP #1: Send yourself positive messages.

This tip comes to you from Sex, Etc. writer Bells, 15, of Livingston, NJ. “When I’m trying to love myself more, I take time to look in the mirror and name all the things I like about my body. Little things that I find adorable and unique. It helps to give me an optimistic view to balance out the pessimistic view I might have of my body.”

TIP #2: Imagine what your good friends would say and think about you.

Another one of our writers, Emma, 17, of Caldwell, NJ says that it was eye-opening when she realized how dramatic and negative her body-image was. “The things I’ve been insecure about are things that I never noticed in other people,” says Emma. “I would never insult my friends’ appearances the same way I insult my own. I’ve come to realize that I need to stop judging my looks so harshly, because I don’t deserve that type of treatment.”

Once we begin to quiet those self-hating voices in our minds, we can start to replace them with more positive ones. Learning to love yourself and your body is an ongoing process. Why not start by proactively building ourselves up by internalizing good messages about the beautiful way we look?