Most of us have probably, at some point, cringed at old photos of ourselves — whether it's because they captured a memory we really didn't want to document, or because they're evidence of our questionable taste as awkward adolescents.
But body positive blogger Kenzie Brenna is posting a photo to show just how proud she is of her 16-year-old self.
"older pictures used to 'gross me out' as I would say and be triggering!" she admitted in an Instagram post last week. "NOT ANYMOREEEEE!!!"
"If you told the 16 year old girl on the left where she would be in 10 years, she wouldn't believe you," she wrote, adding that she'd like to consider her younger self a "goddess in training."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Brenna wrote that she wanted to show her younger self a little more love after the progress she's made, both mentally and physically.
"I'm not embarrassed by her," she wrote. "I'm not ashamed of her. I'm not mad at her for not getting her shit together. I don't wish she looked differently. I don't want her to change. I understand her."
The 16-year-old in the photo on the left, of course, shaped who she came to be in the photo on the right.
"She was going through so much shit, shit that didnt stop for years, shit that kept her from healing, shit that she wasn't able to talk about for so long," she wrote. "She is the strongest person I know, I'm so thankful she survived herself in those late lonely fucked up nights when she didn't think she would. I'm so thankful she stopped hating herself, stopped hurting her arm, stopped hurting her body and started truly loving life!!! I AM PROUD OF HER."
Though Brenna is known for her body positive before-and-after photos on Instagram, this is a different kind of before-and-after — one that honors mental progress as well as celebrating what came before it.
Read these stories next: