Humble, kind and in love.

Look at me; maintain the eye contact I need. The eye contact that scares me yet will leave a smile that will form riveting wrinkles one day, as proof of living truly happy, all for the evidence that what you’re about to say, is really real.

Repeat after me; take a deep breath, a good long, lingering look at what you have right in front of you. I am yours, and you are mine.

Now say it, and make sure you mean it with all of your heart.

“I love you”

Looking back at you is the only person who you can blame on for anything in life, the only one that keeps you up at night glued to your phone, and the only person that can motivate you to be a better you day in and day out. Take a long hard look at the beautiful person staring back at you. Now continue with your morning routine of brushing your teeth, and putting on your favorite scent to satisfy your one true love; you.

This is something I will admit that I have to do every once in awhile, especially with the overbuilding stress and pressure that grows as we all age in the time we live in now. Social construct these days set standards that are unreachable leaving people to chase after the clouds or feeling like they’re crawling their way through the Rocky Mountains. My simple suggestion is to find your inner happiness, self-goals, and fall head over heels for yourself (but don’t push it too far).

In high school, someone informed me that there was a difference between being confident and conceited. Although this may be true, the difference could be a reason why a young girl’s self-love is nonexistent, because no one wants to be conceited, especially when it comes to the acceptance of others.

Always radiate with confidence; focus on every positive asset you, yourself possesses. I’m not suggesting that you rub it in others’ faces, that self-absorbed, but notice it. Notice the freckle that brings your face together, and sets you aside from your bother or sister. Notice that your laugh changes depending the situation you’re in, and notice what makes you truly happy. In the morning, but your best simple on, wear exactly what you want to represent yourself as, (considering the exam you may have that day too of course), and walk out the door ready to tackle what your new day comes tumbling towards you with.

When I say “inner happiness”, I’m not talking about the generic sense of the word “happy”. I’m saying the weird stuff, the quirky, sometimes socially unacceptable tendencies you leave out of your daily routine because they’re “uncool”. That hat that your best friend is always telling you to stop wearing, or that awful pair of socks that just gives you the edge your looking for, wear it all, do it all for you.

You will come to find that at the end of the day, it’s exhausting to try and please and be accepted by everyone around you. Friendships and relationships in particular, I personally found most relationships fail because one the partners involved has insecurity with them. Unresolved and blood curdling, it comes up in the smallest ways, but small problems tend to pile up. Trusting a partner comes hand-in-hand with self-confidence. Confidence that you made the right decision to be with this type of person, the confidence in yourself that allows you to accept the fact that when your partner tells you something, the mean it because you’re incredible and deserve the world.

This is not going to happen overnight, which is why you need to start now. Figure out what you consider confident versus conceited, whether taking a million selfies be your outlet for confidence or wearing something a bit different be your override action. Find what you love. Drop all the distractions that are setting you back from looking at yourself as anything but tremendous value, and a ray of sunshine to every room you enter. This is truly the time to be selfish; but always remember to stay humble and kind.