When I get ready for the day, I start with my makeup. I lay out all the brushes, eye shadow pallets and tubes of mascara. I take my time with every step, slowing down to make sure that I don’t mess up, not even for a second. People will be looking at my face all day long, so it must look pretty. A smear of eyeliner or lipstick could ruin everything.

Then, I move on to my hair. Of course, it would be easier to run a brush through it and be done, but I don’t like my natural texture. It frizzes when it is humid out and it isn’t shiny like the ladies in the shampoo commercials. Once I plug in my flat iron or curling iron, it looks decent. I know I’m damaging my hair by doing this every day, but it looks pretty, so it’s okay.

Also, I can’t forget to go the gym. Working out isn’t really my thing, but I know I will be prettier after I do. As I sweat I think about all the water weight I’m losing, and I feel better when I look at the scale. For dinner, I have to skip fried foods and take a few bites of salad instead. A slice of pizza sounds heavenly, but that won’t make me pretty, will it?

Occasionally I take a trip to the mall, sometimes with friends and other times alone. I am always on the hunt for cute clothes. Dresses, skinny jeans, sweaters, anything I can find. I don’t even look the price tag. I’ll pay any price to be pretty, and that starts with owning pretty things.

When I don’t know what else to do, I look to Instagram for inspiration. Actresses and models post the coolest photos of them on the beach or at rooftop parties. All I want is to look as pretty as them. People will gawk at my selfies the same way I gawk at theirs. Maybe one day I could become Instagram famous. Imagine that…

Any girl could have written this story. Any girl could be staring at herself in the mirror, thinking she will never be pretty enough. If you’re one of those girls, you need to stop, because you are pretty. You were pretty before the hours spent curling your hair and skipping meals. You were pretty before you learned to apply eye shadow and spent too much money at the mall. You’re beautiful, so don’t tell yourself that you’re not.