You look in your mirror and see a reflected version of yourself, but really, it is hardly you at all.

It’s Thursday at 7:30 AM and you’re leaning your hip bones over your bathroom sink to critique, correct, and cover every blemish on your soft morning skin. Applying an enhancement, because what is already there just might not be good enough. Once satisfied, you stroll back to your room, smoothing your hair through your delicate hands and mentally scanning your closet for something to wear to school. Once clothed, you 360 in your full body mirror, quickly settling for your Thursday appearance. Shoving one headphone in your left ear, you swing your backpack over one shoulder, skip down the stairs, and rush out the front door.

You gazed in the mirror and you saw a reflected version of yourself. Sure there was your almond shaped blue eyes, and your little nose, and your passive soft smile. But that is not all there is to you. Because you saw your eyes in the mirror, but you did not see all the lives you’ve touched by simply paying attention with those same eyes. when it seemed no one else would. And yes, you saw your lips, but you never saw all the people you’ve made smile and laugh. And then there were your fragile arms you’ve always figured weak, but you did not see your strength – all of the battles and judgments you have defeated were hidden as you gazed in the mirror.

You are so much more than what your mirror is capable of showing you. Believe me, you are beautiful. You were beautiful long before someone told you that you were, and you will be beautiful long after someone does. So do not prescribe to society’s definition of “beauty.” Be smart, be thoughtful, and be generous. Everything else is nonsense sold to make you feel as though your God given value is inadequate -- do not buy it. Let your beauty glow from within, and not fabricated from without.