Just like most young adults and preteens in this world, I have spent most of my life either pretending to be something I am not or wishing I was something I am not. I have seen person after person throw their potential away for the approval of another human being. I am here to tell you that that is no way for someone to live.

For that person who wants to look like that handsome or beautiful celebrity in the magazine- even the celebrity doesn’t look like that. That celebrity is most likely far from the fairy-tale world people believe they live in. They have guts. They have cellulite. That have that weird, jiggly arm fat that people wish would just go away. Because just like you, they’re human. Just like you, they aren’t perfect. Just like you, they’re most likely insecure.

I always hear people say “if only I had a bigger butt” or “if only I had more muscles.” I know it’s such a cliché, but why fill your life with “if only’s?” If you want to better yourself then you first have to love, accept and respect yourself. I wasn’t able to change myself until I learned how to love myself the way I was.

You do not have to look like someone else to believe that you are beautiful. You just have to have the confidence that you are already beautiful, which you are. Now I know you’re still wondering what flowers and Christmas lights have to do with this. Well, while I was scrolling through Instagram one day (random, I know), I saw a quote in my feed that really helps me to love myself more and more every day: “Just because you don’t look like somebody who you think is attractive doesn’t mean you aren’t attractive. Flowers are pretty, but so are Christmas lights and they look nothing alike.”