To Think A Thought

1: You're A Gem

Obviously, when we look in the mirror, we are prone to see all of the things we don't like about ourselves. Maybe you don't like how your teeth are crooked or that your hair is so straight it seems too plan. Maybe you look at yourself and see the dandruff in your hair that you can't seem to get rid of or the pimples that seem to continue haunting you. We see ourselves as objects that need fixing and tuning. However, the people around us rarely ever notice these things. They aren't focusing on your appearance, they are focusing on you. This is you. In no way do you need to match your beauty to someone else's when the beauty you have is all your own. You are not ugly. Those around you are not ugly. Ugly is an ugly word that only scars our vocabulary when we use it against something or someone - including ourselves.

The people around you see you in a different way. They see your personality and character. They realize what fun you are to hang out with. They admire that you're sweet and respect when you're shy. If anything should be worked on it is our attitude. That is what draws a person in. Sure, being "hot" is all the rage, but your appearance can only catch 10% of the interest. The rest is how you act and speak to others. If you met this barbie girl and thought "oh, she is so beautiful, I want to be friends with her" but then found out she disrespects her parents and doesn't care about hurting her friends feelings, would you still want to be best buds with her? I know I wouldn't.

The mirror you look at yourself through in the mornings is showing you one of the most unique and amazing images you could ever see. That person you look at each day through a mirror is your best friend. Would you speak to your best friend the way you speak to yourself? Why use such harsh words on yourself when you are that same person receiving your own negativity? The world is a difficult one to live in, so why add to the negativity and be unkind to the one and only you? Talk to yourself the way a good friend would. Tell yourself "I love you" in the mirror every morning, no matter how narcissistic you might think it is. Strut those glasses and long legs. Smile at the birthmark and scars. Give yourself some love because you deserve it.

My sister once said in an Instagram post: It doesn't make sense to call ourselves ugly when we don't really see ourselves. We don't watch ourselves sleeping in bed, curled up silently with our chests rising and falling in our own rhythm. We don't see ourselves reading a book, our eyes fluttering and glowing. You don't see yourself looking at somebody with love and care in your heart. There's no mirror in front of you when you're laughing and smiling and that pure happiness is leaking out of you. You would know exactly how bright and beautiful you are if you saw yourself in the moments where you are truly your own self!

Extremely wise words from my little sister! Do you see yourself when you're at your highest point of happiness? Do you watch yourself when you're reading a book and that excitement is written in your features as you're drawn into a whole new world? Do you notice the kindness and love in your gaze when you're with someone you love? No. You don't. But those around you do. They get to experience the beauty of seeing your amazing face genuinely smiling at something they said. They get to be delighted that they made you laugh at something they did, causing the real you to surface. The real you is what people want to see. The real you is who you should genuinely love.

Nowadays, media and society want us to believe that we won't fit in if we aren't beautiful to the max or as handsome as we can be. They want us to think that if we are not popular or famous then we are nothing. Well, liar, liar! We don't need to think we have to look our very best to be in public. Our very best is when we are being our own selves. And you want us to cover that up just because it's not what you think is acceptable? People, I don't think so.

Everyone today is trying to be "unique" - causing everybody to be almost exactly the same! If you are yourself, you are honestly unique. I wish I could explain just how amazing we all are without any of the things society says we should be and have! This is what causes insecurities and self-doubt - everything people judge others on. Some people want a "perfect world" with "perfect people" and if you don't fit into the criteria of "perfect" you're a nothing that shouldn't exist. But these kinds of people with these kinds of criterias are one of the reasons the world is so harsh and hard to live in. And who would want to contribute to that misery? Definitely not me.

Now, there are people who genuinely love to wear makeup and don't just wear it because they think that without it they are "ugly." And that's fine! That's what they love, so why judge it? If a boy loved to design fashion choices or enjoyed being a ballet teacher, what's wrong with that? If a girl loves sports or thoroughly enjoys being a mechanic, why judge her? That is what they love! That is what makes them themselves. That is what makes them happy. Why is it such a bad thing to be happy and love yourself nowadays?

Love yourself. Love those around you. Don't listen to everything media and society say. Everybody is wrong at some points in life, and this is a subject that media and society are both completely wrong about. Would you listen to somebody who told you that if you climbed high enough up a building and jumped off, it would be so far to the ground that you could learn to fly while falling? Well, the negative things society and media say about how we should be are just like that. Dumb. You'll listen to the words, but don't take it in a way where you will follow with actions you will soon regret.

I love all of you! I really do hope that you take the advice I have given. Look at yourselves every morning in the mirror and say "I love you." Even if it may not be sincere at first, as you continue doing it, one day it will be. Pay attention to everything wonderful about yourself just as much - if not more - as you do thinking about all of your flaws. And stop thinking so much about everything you might dislike about yourself. Or, try to find something good in that bad that you see in yourself. Just, please, keep your thoughts about yourself positive! You're beautiful, handsome, and in every way unique!

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YOUR CHALLENGE: When you look into the mirror for the first time each day, tell yourself "I love you" and list things about yourself that you love and appreciate out loud. Focus on the positive. Love who you are, because those around you certainly do!