It’s easy to put a smile on our face and walk through our everyday lives. Wake up, shower, coffee, work, gym, dinner, and then bed. These day to day routines distract us from the real world — from the problems that we need to face head on, but sometimes don’t have the energy to do so.

Everyone has demons they’re facing. Everyone is a little messed up in their own way, but that doesn’t make them broken. So, let me tell you right now—you’re not alone. When you don’t feel pretty enough, you are not alone. When you don’t feel smart enough, you are not alone. When you don’t feel skinny enough, you are not alone. When you feel like a raincloud is stuck over your head, following you wherever you go, you are also not alone. But there is something you are... You are enough.

Brooke Davis once said, “That’s what I’m afraid of. Not being enough. Not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough.” For those of you who know Brooke Davis, and are a “One Tree Hill” fan, then you know the type of person she is. For those who do not, then I will fill you in.

B. Davis was a popular teenager in high school. She was the captain of the cheerleading team, noticeably beautiful, and carried herself with a type of confidence that other girls worshiped. But, at the end of the day, she never felt like she was enough. Brooke Davis would open her heart up to people, give them her all, and it still felt to her that being herself, just wasn’t good enough. Instead of feeling bad about herself, she turned her negative energy into positive energy. Every time something went wrong in her life, she would bury her problems knee-deep in her designs. Eventually, all that work paid off and she built her own fashion line, the notorious, “Clothes over Bros.”

If there is one thing we can learn from B. Davis, it is that it’s OK to feel bad for ourselves. It’s OK to cry. It’s OK to be in touch with your emotions. It’s OK to let it all out. But, you don’t need to let your demons define you. Define yourself. There is so much more to us, then the bad things in life that eat us up. There is so much more to us all than our insecurities and issues that we don’t feel comfortable sharing with others. We are someone’s best friend, sister, daughter, girlfriend, and so much more. Instead of dwelling on your problems, turn to something else. Start painting. Start reading. Start writing. Collect stamps. Collect coins. Play a sport. Anything that will keep you busy, and anything that will let you realize that you are enough.

The only acceptance we need from someone is our own. So, that itself should be enough. The strongest love someone can have is not the love between a couple. It’s the love you have for yourself. We don’t need boys to tell us we’re pretty, and we don’t need teachers to tell us we’re smart. Our confidence comes from within. It doesn’t come from boys liking our Instagram pictures, or commenting on how we look. It comes from how we present ourselves, and how we carry ourselves. If we’re always looking down because we’re too scared to look up, and see what others might think about us, then we will never be seen. We will never be confident. What we need is to love ourselves, fully and completely. What we need is to walk with our heads held high. From that moment on, we will most definitely be enough. And remember, “At the end of the day, you are who you are. And it’s probably who you’ve always been.” And that is more than enough.