One morning last year, when I added lunch money to my teenage daughter’s account, I was surprised to find only a few dollars missing. When I asked her about that, I could tell she was having difficulty putting her thoughts into words. “Mom,” she said, “I want to lose weight.”

Then she told me that during gym class, all the girls had to line up to have their weight measured. Afterward, several started skipping meals to lose weight. My daughter — an average-size teenager — hadn’t eaten lunch in a week.

Many people in the body positivity movement — which I’d like to count myself a member of — believe that the wish to lose weight is never reasonable, because it is an expression of fat shaming. I am a fat woman. I was a fat teenager. But I embraced the idea that my body was healthy at any size.

Therefore, several weeks ago, when my doctor told me that I had diabetes (糖尿病), I disagreed with him. “How can I have diabetes? I eat fruits and vegetables. I walk. You can be healthy at any size.”

“You’re not healthy at any size. Unless you make some changes, you’ve probably got about 10 years left to live,” he said.

His words had thrown my belief into doubt.

Today’s body positivity refuses to accept that no one method is right for every person. One teenager might grow up to be healthy at any weight, and another might end up in the hospital. It left my own daughter afraid to discuss the topic with me.

Shutting down the conversation wouldn’t help. My daughter did not want to grow up to weigh 300 pounds like me. I didn’t want that either. But we also talked about self-love and health. We put a stop to the meal skipping. She chose some healthier foods and started playing a sport. I’ve come to feel that loving yourself and wishing to change yourself are two opinions that should be able to exist together peacefully.

We experienced a horrible winter because of the national outbreak of COVID-19. My aunt is a doctor. 2 days before the Chinese New Year’s Eve when hearing the urgent news that she should perform her duty in Wuhan, my family sank into a great panic. How long would this duty last? Could my auntie be safe? More and more confirmed cases and deaths were reported. Hubei Province was locked down. People were restricted to homes. The whole country was under a cloud of terror.

At this time, a group of medical staff, including my aunt, came forward. They sacrificed their Spring Festival holiday and charged on the front line to defeat the disease. Regardless of personal safety, they took their professional mission to head for Hubei Province.

In addition, Zhong Nanshan, Li Lanjuan, Zhang Boli, Chen Wei and other top scientists immediately made up the epidemic expert group, trying to find out pathology and effective prescriptions as soon as possible. Many truck drivers had been devoted to transporting all kinds of goods to support Hubei Province.

Throughout the country, the Party members have played their exemplary role at all posts in routine work of disinfection and sterilization, registration and inspection. Moreover, a lot of volunteers have kept on duty day and night, insist on publicizing the common knowledge of epidemic prevention. In this way, our government could take measures step by step.

In peace times, there are also heroes. They can be medical staff, scientists and all fighters in this fight against CONVID-19. In the face of the epidemic, in spite of their personal concerns and their family’s worries, they can still make their courageous choice.

Last week, my aunt came back home, safe and sound. I gave my aunt a warm hug. It’s also a hug to all heroes in our country. Thank you all! Our heroes! You are making our world more colorful.