I started to lose my hair 15 years ago. It made me feel like I wasn't beautiful, because I didn't have any hair anymore. Like, who would want to be with a woman with no hair?  I cried so much about what was happening to me. When I finally went to the doctor to see what was causing my hair loss, I found out it was alopecia. I tried hair creams to restore my hair, but just couldn't do the shots in my head.

The person I was dating at the time looked at me and said, “You are beautiful with or without hair.” By that point my hair only grew on two areas of my head and I was wearing wigs to cover it up. I didn't really have much of anything to shave off, since I was already almost completely bald already. So one morning I decided to just shave off the little I had left.

Now I'm so happy with the person that I see in the mirror! I'm just a woman without hair. Shaving my hair made me a stronger person. I believe the first step to happiness is to be happy with yourself, because if you’re happy with you, you will be strong facing the world.

For anyone going through hair loss: I want you to know that it's hard in the beginning -- you will get depressed, you will cry and ask ‘why did this happen to me’. I had to learn that I'm beautiful with or without hair, and ultimately it made me stronger. It made me love myself more. No matter what the world thinks beauty should look like, you have to be happy with who you are. If you’re not happy with you, you will never get over losing your hair. You have to love yourself first, before you can love anyone else. So with that said, I’m bald, beautiful, and happy. You can be too.

Elaine is a nursing assistant from Delaware. In her spare time she can be found working out, bowling, reading... and inspiring others to love themselves. Follow along @baldandb.