Has anyone told you that you’re beautiful today? Well, you are. Has anyone told you that you’re loved today? Well, you are. Has anyone told you that you’re valuable today? Well, you are. You are beautifully and perfectly you, you are loved far more than you could ever imagine, and you are more valuable than any jewel or diamond. These are things that we need to continue to remind ourselves each and every day.

In the world today, it is so easy to forget who we are and what we deserve. In the routine of life, it’s easy to decide to settle. When we don’t understand our worth, consequently, we don’t understand what we deserve. When we don’t respect ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to respect us? A misinterpretation of who we are causes a ripple effect into every aspect of our lives. We have to learn who we are and what we deserve. We have to understand that the things we want from others, we first have to give to ourselves. We have to know our self-worth. Self-worth is a concept we often hear about, but something that we give little thought to. It’s something we brush off, and we miss the importance of it. But in reality, it’s one of the most important things for us to understand. So let’s get the record straight….

You deserve respect.

When we learn to respect ourselves, respect just kind of comes from the people around us. When we walk with our heads held high, and we are proud of the person we are, other people notice—because you are respectable, you are valuable, and you are one of a kind. Why not be proud of that? Why not have the people around you respect that about you?

You deserve encouragement.

So be an encourager to the people around you. We so often forget the impact of a simple compliment. We often think positive things about other people, whether it’s “I like her outfit” or “She has awesome hair," but I challenge you to actually say those things out loud. See what happens when you begin to encourage those around you. It doesn’t just help those around, but it just as much helps you.

You deserve love.

Love is something every single one of us deserves. Love isn’t just for the supermodel who lives next door or just for the girl who seems to have it all together. It’s for you and me as well. You are worth being loved. So show people that by first loving yourself. There’s nothing more attractive than a girl who believes in herself, so believe that you deserve to be loved.

You deserve Prince Charming.

Following the fact that we deserve to be loved, we deserve Prince Charming to love us. So often we accept way less than what we deserve because of a messed up view of who we are. We see ourselves in the hardest of lights, and we convince ourselves that we don’t deserve this amazing person that all of us hear about. So to clear up that messed up logic, you are beautiful, you are smart, you are kind, and you are deserving, and anyone like you deserves the best the world can offer.

You deserve a happy ending.

When you combine all of these things together, you realize you deserve a happy ending as well. The picture perfect ending that we see in movies may be far fetched, but it’s not completely wrong either. Yeah, we may not have all the things the movies have, and we may not think we have it all together, but one thing we all deserve to have is happiness. When we learn our worth, and we learn to value ourselves and expect all these things, we learn that happiness isn’t that hard to have.

So, to make sure we got all this down, we give respect, because we deserve respect. We give encouragement, because we deserve to be encouraged. We love those around us, because we are worth loving. Never accept less than you deserve. Don’t rob yourself of the happiness and the life that was planned for you. Stop being so hard on yourself and know that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world, but also know that what you do with it is up to you. It’s not about what circumstances are given to you, but how you handle it.

You are fearfully and wonderfully made.

You are loved beyond understanding.

And you are made to do great things.