Every single day you look in the mirror, tearing yourself apart. You think you aren't skinny enough. You think you aren't outgoing enough. You think you aren't fun enough. You think you aren't enough at all.
It's not an easy thing to watch, in fact, it actually pains me to see you view yourself in such a light. It pains me because I have seen you in every single light, not just the lights hanging above your mirror. I have seen you at your worst, and I have seen you at your best. I have seen you in enough of these lights to know that in any of them, whether it be direct sunlight, a slight shadow, a dim flame, or complete darkness, you are beautiful from every angle. When I look at you, I see the most magnificent, glowing light of them all.
Yes, you are beautiful. But I'm not just talking about your outer appearance. You are absolutely stunning on the inside, and you shine your own light from within. There will be people throughout life that make you question whether you truly have your own radiance; forget those people, for you can extinguish their hate with your kindness and love. Please know that these people are not the ones who matter, it's the people who can see your light even on the stormiest of your days that will matter until the end of time. When I look at you, I see true, pure beauty, a beauty that cannot be found by looking in a mirror, but by looking within.
You have your struggles, challenges, and hurdles, and you have plenty of them. I know sometimes you wonder if you can even bare to face another day; if you are even able to mutter up enough strength to carry yourself through another hour. You see yourself as weak, not resilient, a let down. Let me tell you, you are one of the strongest, most influential, inspiring people I have ever met. Not everyone can make it through the continuous hard times that you have faced, it's true. It takes a special kind of someone to endure the worst of times to get to the best of times. When I look at you, I see a warrior; a human being that knows she is more than the obstacles thrown in her path. When I look at you, I feel pride. I am proud to know and love a true fighter, combating everything that gets in her way.
You never believe that you are enough. But, it's never that you don't believe you aren't enough for yourself, you don't even think about yourself, it's that you don't believe you are enough for anyone else. You always tell me you feel as though you can't be there for people, that you are constantly letting people down. To me, you are the most selfless person on the face of this beautiful planet. You are so giving, so caring, so willing to drop everything to help someone in need. You are more than enough to everyone. You are more than enough to everyone, except the one person who really matters, yourself. When I look at you, I feel happiness. I can't help but smile and feel grateful to know someone like you.
It's time you start to realize that this life is about you first, above all else. Once you can start to see yourself through my eyes, you'll see that you are beautiful, you are strong, you are enough, and most importantly, you are totally, completely, and unconditionally loved. When I look at you, I see a girl who will love herself in that way too.
"You've only ever seen yourself in two ways, looking in the mirror and in pictures. You've never seen you the way I have. When you're laughing and your face is lit up from happiness, when you're reading your favorite book, when you blush and bite your lip after hearing a compliment, when you are slowly drifting off into your dreams. So when you say you are not beautiful, when you say you hate yourself, your justification does not count, because you've only seen yourself in two ways, I've seen you in hundreds."
