I absolutely LOVE when I check the mail and the latest issue of Time Magazine has arrived. In a world of iphones and tweets, I find comfort in turning its pages to read current event articles.

That said, I was moved by a recent one titled, “Nip, Tuck, Or Else.”

While reading the thought provoking article on the evolution of plastic surgery, I was both terribly aggravated and totally curious. It seems that nipping, tucking, augmentation, fillers et al have become as commonplace as getting your hair highlighted. What’s next? “Brush, floss, Botox?”

When I was a young girl, plastic surgery was something for the elite few. In fact, I didn’t personally know anyone who had gone under the knife or had any other type of cosmetic procedure. I remember thinking it was all very glamorous and exclusive and I wondered what it must be like to be able to have help becoming perfect.

Today I have an entirely different understanding of “perfect.” I flip flop between “Of course there’s no such thing as ‘perfect'” and “Duh, I already am!” As a society, I believe we are in big trouble when we are looking for ways to change who we are to conform to some media set standards of perfection that aren’t real anyway.

Ladies (and gentlemen too according to the article) “Don’t Do It.” Please, hold on to your individuality. Clutch and grab hold of your God-given bone structure, nose, chin, breasts and all. Cling for dear life to your authenticity. Because, if you don’t you may never be able to get back to it. Just where will you stop once you get started? Where can you U-turn? Or can you? If you are of the mindset that one tweak is good, how many will be best?

I can’t deny it. Over the years I had fleeting thoughts that perhaps I should have gotten a lil help filling in my brassiere or the creases in my cheeks, but thankfully I have done neither. When I look in the mirror today, what I see is a unique and lovely woman. One who is utterly herself and a one of a kind original. Yes, the lines on my face are deep, but they are earned. They have been put in place over years of belly laughing and sometimes crying with those I love and value. There is a bit of loose skin on my thighs, mostly because my life is so full I don’t have much time to exercise these days. But today, I am fine with that. I have earned the right to honor all of my perfect imperfections and simply be ME. Exactly who I am, wear and tear and all.

Won’t you join me by not buying in? By staying yourself too? Together we can make a difference by disregarding impossible standards that are nothing more than setups. We can be completely and exactly who we were intended to be and possibly show others that it’s OK to do the same and not cave to the pressures around every corner to be “perfect.” One dictionary defines “perfect” as: “having all the required or desirable elements, qualities or characteristics; making something free from defects; absolute; as good as it is possible to be.” So, maybe it can be that simple. If each one of us begins today to be and stay absolute in our skin, to be as fabulous as we already are in our individual way with our inherent looks, style, shape and form, think of how different the world would be.

Want to start with me and give it a try? How about a “Let’s Be Authentic” revolution? Why not? There’s nothing to lose, except possibly ourselves if we don’t.