It's about that time of year

So I went outside today, and it's almost 90 freakin degrees which is pretty warm considering it's only April. I'm used to it staying cold until about May, so this is weird. Anyways, so everyone is outside, trying to get their tan on, and most of the girls are wearing very small swimsuits and stuff like that. These are the girls who are probably in sororities but don't live in Tut, or they are girls who want to be in sororities, but got weeded out. It's kinda funny how self-conscious us girls can get around one another. Especially us disabled girls. We are all aware that because of our disabilities, we will never look "normal." It's just a fact of life. Then it made me realize how obsessed we all are about how we look. Not to completely throw my sister under the bus, but she is always complaining about how she needs to work out more because she is "getting a little big." I'm like dear, sweet sister of mine, you look fine just the way you are! But no, instead she insists on getting ridiculous workouts, like Insanity, with her motivation being "swimsuit season" chanted over and over as she can barely catch her breath and sweat pours down her face. Is it really worth it what we do to our bodies to make them more appealing to other people? Personally, I say no. I work out to be at the top athletic shape I can be and so I don't gain the freshmen 10 (seriously, these dining halls will get ya!) I don't do it to look better for other people, instead I do it for myself. I can understand if you are working out in order to lose weight because your weight is causing you to have health problems, but I feel like any other time people work out just to make themselves seem better to look at or more attractive (which is quite annoying I must say.) Why can't people just be happy about the way they look? However, I will admit that I too had a time in my life where I wanted to look better. I was 15 and I was shopping for my first Homecoming dress. Well, my disability includes having my spine kind of stick out a little around where it stops (I call it my bump lol). I had to find a dress that was big enough to fit my bump into. Let me tell you, this was no easy task. We spent at least 2 hrs trying to find one that I liked, but also fit into. I finally found one, but it was probably a little too small (my mom ended up zipping my bump into the dress a little the night of the dance. Can we say worst few hours of my life??) A few weeks later, I went in for my normal check-up and brought up the issue about my back. I wanted to know if there was any way they could make it smaller and less noticeable. They said yes there was a way, but this would include a surgery where I would have to lay on my stomach for a long period of time, and there was the chance that during this surgery I could be paralyzed. My early teenage self then had an epiphany. Was it really worth it to get this surgery just for cosmetic reasons? Am I willing to sacrifice what little feeling I do have in my lower half just to fit into a smaller dress? In the end, I decided that no that surgery would be ridiculous to have, and I'm just fine the way I am. God made me this way for a purpose. Why shouldn't I be happy with it? Ok there's the end of my rant. Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/mouseinhouse05 or find me on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/wizards04. Peace out and tell someone you know that they look really good today: just the way they are.