Shannon Purser (aka Barb from “Stranger Things”) explains how she’s learning to love her beautiful body

As the intro to the 2017 Golden Globes proved, everyone loves Barb from Netflix’s series Stranger Things. Yet, Shannon Purser — who portrays the character with an epic cult following — has struggled with loving herself at times. In a series of tweets, Purser discussed the relatable struggle of learning to accept her body, and followed this up with how she’s going to make this a priority.

While we adore Purser and think she is absolutely gorgeous just as she is (the hair! the freckles! her style!), we know exactly what she was talking about on Twitter while opening up about her body image. Especially around the New Year, it’s kind of expected that people are supposed to be focused on improving themselves and losing weight. As Purser noted, that desire to improve yourself can unfortunately come out of self-loathing rather than self-love.

But Purser wrote she is going to focus on loving her body from now on ?

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The 19-year-old Purser sounds wise beyond her years in this series of four tweets. And the lesson of taking care of yourself because you love yourself — not because you dislike yourself — is important for everyone, regardless of age. We should all be treating ourselves with kindness.

As Purser said, you shouldn’t have to feel bad if you enjoy some unhealthy snacks some days. But it’s also important mentally and physically to keep yourself healthy. It’s all about that balance where you don’t deny yourself things while also nourishing your body.

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Though Purser won’t be showing up on Stranger Things Season 2, we’re so glad that she’s active on social media and getting other fabulous roles. Because just like her character Barb, this girl’s words should be heeded.