I think you’re beautiful. Do you know what beautiful means? You might think beautiful is some elusive dream, somewhere in the depths of a celebrity’s doe eyes or in the outline of a supermodel’s defined cheekbones. Don’t listen to the strangers behind the glowing screens—Facebook, Instagram, reality TV—the voices that clamor and crowd your mind. They tell you that perfection is within reach, that all you need is one more makeup product, one more juice cleanse, one more facelift to achieve real happiness in your life. But real happiness isn’t something you can buy your way into, and it’s definitely not something you need to alter your body to obtain.
You are so much more than what you look like.
Your well-being, in mind and body, are at stake when you strive to be someone else’s body. You lose yourself in the midst of trying to achieve this singular identity; trying to please the masses is like throwing yourself into a black hole. The black hole is insatiable. Don’t throw yourself away for an ideal—the intangible, scattered desires of countless others.
Your friends, your family, even strangers will take it upon themselves to comment on a girl growing into a woman’s body. Perhaps their words are never meant to cut, but their judgements are like scalpels digging into skin.
Don’t chase that man who thinks beauty is the gap between your thighs. Don’t carve up your body as a result of society’s gaze. Don’t feel inadequate when you compare yourself to the airbrushed models in the media.
Beautiful isn’t what you see on screen. Beautiful isn’t something you can mold your body into. Beautiful is a state of being, the way you live your life and see yourself and others. Beautiful is your ability to make someone laugh after a long, hard day. Beautiful is any of the unique talents you have. Beautiful is the confidence in yourself and your body.
You’re more than an ideal.
You’re beautiful.