Imagine waking up and loving everything about yourself. Not having a care in the world for any of your flaws, sounds great, doesn't it? More often than not we don't wake up like this. We wake up focusing on all the negatives about us, and all the horrendous words we hear from people.

These past two years have been a wake-up call for me. Before this past year, I wasn't confident at all. I didn't think I was worth much and that I was not good enough for anyone. These insecurities, and fears, and negative thoughts lead us to hatred and misery.

We spend too much time focusing on everyone else's good qualities that we too often forget our good qualities. We can't always question, "Why is she so pretty?", "Why are they so happy", "Why did she just say that?" Comparing yourself to every person around you is very destructive. It leads to negative ideas and fights. "Why can't I be as pretty as her?", "Why do boys never like me?", "Why am I not pretty, smart, or likable?" All questions i have asked myself.

We have to remember that we are worth it. That we have these amazing qualities that everyone sees, but we don't even allow ourselves to see them. They go through their lives and don't see their traits either. We all have flaws. Whether you are in a room with 3 people or 540, every single one of them has some sort of flaw that they are thinking about and possibly constantly worrying about. "What you hate about yourself, others love", As corny as this quote is it couldn't be closer than the truth. Our flaws are what make us who we are, how we handle them plays a huge contribution to who we are.

Beauty is the strength you use to handle all the bad, good, and all around qualities that you have. It's loving everyone around you. It's being proud of who you are, and everything you do or try to do. It's waking up and not caring that you have these little flaws, but rather caring about yourself in a positive way.

So don't care about counting every single calorie in all of your food. Don't care about missing the gym sometimes to just lay back and relax. Don't care about that tiny number you read on your bathroom on the scale. Don't worry about one bad grade. Stop comparing yourself to others. Stop worrying if everyone likes you.

Before this year I would have never imagined myself writing this. I hated a lot about myself. And would always worry if someone liked me, and if they didn't, I would feel horrible. I overcame my insecurity by surrounding myself with positive friends and family and my own thoughts. I used to spend hours comparing my pictures and grades to everyone else's. But I have finally realized, that I am my own self. I make a fantastic person when I am me. I still look in the mirror and at my work and don't always like everything I see, but I do love myself. I still struggle at times because nobody is 100% confident. But I still wake up with the mindset that its gonna be a good day because I can handle anything, and I can do everything if I try.

Learning to love yourself is a huge step in finding your own happiness. A friend once told me, it's the key to life. and that's true. That friend taught me to love myself because I realize that he cared about me. When you care about someone you want the best for them, so using that logic, when you care about yourself, you just want the best for yourself. So you give yourself the joy of confidence and overcoming obstacles.

So take pictures of yourself, and love them. Love that they are of you, whether they are high quality or not, they are of YOU. And that's the best they can be. So listen to your heart, and remember that you get another chance at this beautiful thing of life, every single day.