Beautiful.
One word, three syllables, and a bunch of meanings. How many, you may ask? Well, it is estimated that there are 7.3 billion people in the world. Therefore, there are 7.3 billion opinions. Beautiful. Beautiful. Beautiful. This word is just so powerful. It’s a word that races through my mind every single time I look in the mirror. The questions that race through every girl's mind when she looks in the mirror, “Do I look beautiful?" "Oh no, did I gain a few pounds?" Or my favorite, "Do I look good enough to impress him?"
In today’s society, beauty for girls is most commonly defined by skinny, tan, and long hair. I see girls following famous people like Kylie Jenner on Instagram and commenting the word “goals” on pictures that she posts. Girls are following fitness pages and are obsessing over the photos of models with bulging abs and muscular legs. So many teenage girls are struggling with their appearances; about 30 million people worldwide are dealing with an eating disorder. People are doing anything to be skinny--whether it’s obsessing over every single calorie, counting every tiny stretch mark, or constantly staring at the mirror, many girls still don’t think they look good enough. If you are someone who is struggling with their self-esteem please know this: You are beautiful. To all the girls out there: You were beautiful before he told you.
Girls, your opinion of yourself should not be determined by what a boy thinks of you. Let me tell you right now that it does not matter what he thinks of you. If he doesn't see your beauty then he's not worth it. It's one boy, one opinion. Don't make his opinion bigger than it really is. All of your love for yourself should come from you. It is so much better for your mental health to love yourself. It is not healthy to look in the mirror and think that you hate what you see. It causes you to be a pessimistic person. You’re just not as happy as you could be. Why be unhappy every single day? If you love yourself you will feel like a happier, more positive person. As a teenage girl, I used to let what a boy thinks of me be crucial to my self-esteem. If a boy thought I was beautiful, then I thought I was. If a boy thought I was ugly, then I thought I was.
Just like most teenage girls, I never noticed how much I let a boy influence my self-esteem. It was not until I was out of the relationship that I realized how important a boy’s words were to me. I started noticing things that I liked about myself. I unfollowed all of the Instagram pages that made me feel bad about how I looked. Instead of counting every single calorie, I just ate healthier. Before I went to bed each night I would look in the mirror and say three things I liked about myself. Whether it was a physical trait or a personality trait, it made me feel better. It’s funny how these little changes can affect someone so much. If you’re someone who is struggling with their self-esteem I highly recommend trying these things every single day.
I hope that one day we can live in a world where everyone is seen as “beautiful.” Where curvy, skinny, tall, short, blonde, brunette, ginger, curly, wavy, straight, tan, blue eyes, brown eyes, green eyes are all seen as being beautiful. If you are someone who is struggling with your self-esteem, start loving yourself. Love every insecurity, stretch mark, or dimple. It makes you, you.
