Read This If You Don’t Believe That You Are Beautiful

You shouldn’t feel bad about yourself because you haven’t become comfortable with your body yet.

It’s okay to take a hundred selfies, because you don’t like the way that you looked in the first ninety-nine of them.

It’s okay to avoid mirrors, because you hate what you see when you look inside.

It’s okay to wear bangs because you don’t like your forehead and to wear push-up bras because you wish you had bigger boobs.

It’s okay to shake your head when someone tells you how cute you look, because you have trouble accepting a compliment.

It’s okay to wonder if you’re unattractive when your Instagram photo didn’t get as many likes as you hoped it would get.

It’s okay to have insecurities. It’s okay to think of yourself as less than perfect.

It’s okay to be uncomfortable with the way that you look. It’s okay if you’re still struggling to love yourself. Most people are, even if it seems like they’re proud of their body. Even if it seems like they think they’re hot stuff.

It’s okay if you have a love-hate relationship with the way that you look — as long as you work on changing it. As long as you don’t let your fear control you.

You shouldn’t avoid the beach, because you’re afraid of walking around while wearing a bathing suit. You shouldn’t cancel on your friend’s plans to go to the club, because you’re afraid of how other people will look at you when you wear a tight dress.

You shouldn’t turn down a date, because you assume a boy is lying about thinking you’re cute. You shouldn’t hold yourself back from enjoying your life, because you think of yourself as unattractive.

You should never let your looks stop you from doing, and wearing, what you love.

It might be hard for you to believe right now, but you are beautiful. Even if you hate your skin for how often it breaks out. Even if you hate your arms for how much they jiggle. Even if you don’t look exactly like that celebrity you’re obsessed with or that girl in your class who gets all the boys.

You are beautiful. Even if you don’t feel like it all the time.

You are beautiful when you glue lashes to your eyes and paint your lips with red. And you are beautiful when you step out of the shower with wet hair and a make-up free face.

You are beautiful in your natural state and when you dress up. You are beautiful when you feel confident and when you feel insecure. 

You have to remember that you’re not alone in questioning if your nose is too big or if your boobs are too small. It’s normal to feel like everyone else looks prettier than you, like they have something that you never will.

But the fact that some stranger on the internet is beautiful in one way doesn’t change the fact that you’re beautiful, too. There are a million different shades of pretty — and you’re one of them.

You’re absolutely stunning.

Holly Riordan is the author of
Severe(d), A Creepy Poetry Collection.
Order your copy here.