Somewhere along the line, we screwed up.

We were taught growing up that humility is of utmost importance. And while being humble is something to definitely adhere to from time to time, we've learned about it all wrong.

Hating yourself isn't humble. Loving yourself isn't conceited.

We were told posting too may selfies of ourselves on social media showed that we were self-absorbed. We were told that when someone told us we looked pretty, the correct response was to reject it and say "Oh, whatever, you're crazy! That's you!" instead of saying "Thank you," with a smile.

The effects of this have hindered women for generations. We try to stay in the shadows while we try to lift our friends into the limelight. We look at ourselves in the mirror and see hatred instead of a strong, intelligent, beautiful being. We can't imagine why anyone in the entire world would even think of complimenting us.

There's nothing graceful about calling yourself ugly. There's nothing admirable about wallowing in self-hatred. There's nothing honorable about being disgusted at your appearance because you've been taught to never feel too much self-love. It's not cute. It's not attractive. It's not anything that could even remotely be described in any fragment of a positive light, ever.

It's hurtful. It's pain. It's crying yourself to sleep because you can never accept who you are after putting yourself down for a decade. It creates an avalanche of internal conflict, self-esteem issues, and mental health problems.

We've contorted the definition of modesty and humility. We've managed to make anything even remotely praising of one's self, whether that's simple accomplishments or looking in the mirror and smiling or posting selfies on social media, be something that is worth gossiping about around some drinks.

Wear the crop top. Call yourself pretty. Post five selfies back to back on your Instagram. Sleep soundly at night. Tell yourself that you love yourself. Do anything and everything that it takes to think of yourself in a positive light after years of hating every inch of your fiber for the sake of making everyone else around you happy. Who cares who it pisses off? Your opinion of yourself is the only one that matters, and frankly, life's a lot more durable when you're able to look yourself in the eyes.