Self-Acceptance Isn’t Selfish

To anyone who isn’t very self-accepting, I’m here to tell you to stop right now because you’re beautiful. Everyone is beautiful in their own way. You might not look like everyone else, and that’s absolutely acceptable. Society is bullcrap. “Do this,” “Do that,” “Wear this,” all that stuff is meaningless. Be who you want to be, wear what you want to wear. Being different won’t always be the easiest thing to accomplish, but I promise it’s more satisfying. I can attest to being different for the mere fact I don’t wear makeup. It’s hard being around so many girls and women who look absolutely breathtaking, but then I remember why I don’t wear makeup. I want people to see me for me, for my brains, for everything that I am.

Self-acceptance is when you no longer worry about what people think or say about you. You no longer have fear or anxiety on whether you’re good enough to be around people, good enough to have a special someone, good enough to be alive. You are all of those things. The main thing about self-acceptance, though, is that you have to accept those things yourself. Reading about it and hearing about it won’t change anything if you continue to tell yourself what I’ve written are lies. Once you accept yourself, you have so much more freedom to run, jump, dance, and sing like no one’s watching. You will no longer allow anyone to walk all over you, tell you the lies of the world, or settle for average or less than average relationships.

Be you, be bold, be brave. I support you. I’ve been where you are, so I know what it’s like. Focus on yourself, your happiness, and your future. Everything else will follow. I promise.

Also, I recommend reading Her by Pierre Jeanty. It’s a great book that talks about your worth.

• self-love