Beautiful

As a female, it's no secret that we struggle with body image and expectations that society puts on us. These high expectations have diminished the elf confidence of women all over the world. We aren't tall enough, skinny enough, or "pretty" enough. 

I struggle with this. Without a doubt. When I'm getting ready. When I'm around all of my friends and their cute relationships. When I want an ice cream cone but eat yogurt instead. 

It's so hard to be happy and motivated when you're always concerned with your self image and how others are perceiving you. What I've come to realize is that others' perceptions of me are so far from my perception of myself. The past few years, I've spent every chance I've been given with a friendship or relationship pushing that person away. I think to myself that they don't really want to be around me. Or they don't really want to talk to me. I'm an annoyance. 

This warped self image of myself has ruined chances for fantastic friendships... only recently have I been able to gain my self confidence and open up to people. And guess what? It's not that bad! :) I love all of the great friends I've made and the experiences I've had with them. I want nothing else than to continue these habits in college and beyond, because I've truly come to love who I am.

Watch this video. You'll walk away loving who you are.

My cousin posted this video on her Facebook and I cried. I seriously cried. Because it's so true! We are so critical of ourselves- our most beautiful and unique features are the ones that we critique the most. I don't know how I would describe myself, but I hope and pray that I would describe myself to who I really am versus the "ugly" features. And, I wonder what someone else would say when they described me.