To be quite frank, for me, this year has sucked. As many of you may know, I lost three family members, and three family dogs... and I experienced my first real breakup... my first heartbreak. I hated everything... I didn't understand why this all was happening to me. To lose family members was bad enough, but then to lose the person you fell in love with? Awful. How was I ever supposed to move on?
Well, it took quite some time, but I'm in a pretty good place now. I no longer cry at night, and instead of being sad, I think of the good times. With the support of my friends and family, I moved on.
And in doing so, I learned to love myself.
Loving yourself is so important. How can you love someone else if you can't love yourself? I have always been self-conscious about how I looked, how I dressed, my hair, how I acted... I've always been a little awkward, shy, goofy, and clumsy. I'm not a genius, and I don't have any special talents. I figured this is why my ex broke up with me, because I wasn't good enough, or pretty enough, or popular enough, or smart enough. For months, this is what stopped me from moving on.
But then I learned something. I am good enough. I am beautiful, inside and out. I am smart. And I deserve to be happy. I learned to appreciate my quirks and unique talents (I'm really good at petting animals, eating food, and I promise I can make you laugh). I learned to love my hair and my features, even if they're not stereotypically beautiful. I learned to appreciate myself for who I am on the inside, and learned to stand up a little taller and smile a little brighter. I learned that I don't need a man to be happy, because I am fine on my own. I have learned to love myself.
And that, my friends, is an amazing feeling.
What I want you to take away from this is that you don't need to be perfect. You are perfect in your own unique way. You don't need to have perfect hair, perfect grades, perfect clothes, or be stick-thin in order to be loved. If you love yourself, it will shine through and others will love you even more. This, I can promise you. You're amazing inside and out... never forget that.
