There are people out there prettier than me. People who run faster than me, people who are smarter, funnier, and better than me. And I can’t fix that. There are certain things in life that you have to live with. Genetic predispositions and inherited features. I can’t change how tall I am or how smart I am. I will never be an Olympic athlete and I’ll never win a nobel prize. There is one thing that I get to change, to improve my status in life: I can be the thinnest. Whether or not people want to admit it, thin is equated with beauty. And not just beauty. Thin is will power and dedication. It’s saying no to ice cream and yes to 6am workouts. Thin is light and airy and wearing whatever you want. It’s what people envy and strive to be. Fat is lazy and disgusting and pathetic. Incapable and useless and stupid. Fat is where I am now. But I can be better. For once maybe, I can actually do something better. Change something for the better. No more swearing to do well on a test only to fail again. Going on run after run and never improving. Promising to learn new material, to keep up with reading, to actually learn something for once, only to be perpetually and painfully disappointed. This is in my control now, and I can’t fail again.