When I was just becoming a teen, I learned one simple little phrase that has haunted me my entire life: It hurts to be beautiful. I was learning the art of plucking my eyebrows and all I could think about was the pain. While the strength of that sentence didn’t really faze me in that moment, I look back now and realize just how much societal norms of beauty have affected my life.
We all go through this life trying to be some kind of beautiful. For us women, it is the perfect hair, the perfect lips, the perfect skin and the perfect body. However, it is not just women that have to deal with this perfect image. Men face similar struggles as well. For men, it is the perfect body- all muscles and sinew. The media has created this image of beauty, and society has accepted it. We see it everywhere we go: billboards, magazine covers, social media pages. We are all being judged in one way or another. "You are so fat," "You're too thin," "You would look pretty if you wore make-up," "You'd be prettier if you wore less make-up," these are just some of the comments we face on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter what we do or how we look—it is never good enough…for them.
But I am here to tell you something: You are good enough, every single one of you.
Beauty is much more complex than society portrays it to be. There is more than one definition of being beautiful. Thus, beauty is not measured just by how you look. Beauty is words and actions. It is what comes from the heart—from a painting to an act of compassion. We all have beauty in us, around us, and in what we do.
Beauty is you.
Never be afraid to be yourself or do what you love. This is what being beautiful is all about: passion, individuality, happiness. In reality, it doesn’t hurt to be beautiful. It is actually quite easy. What does hurt is when others try to make us something we are not. To everyone out there that thinks you aren’t enough: don’t listen to them. Please don’t try to be someone or something you are not because you are beautiful just the way you are.
We need more of you in this world.
