hey you, beautiful

love yourself

“And kid, you gotta love yourself.”

...

I am not in the business of giving advice, and I am not in the business of loving myself. I am an absolute train wreck of a human being—I am sad and lonely and terrified. I cry too often and complain about trivial things that will not affect the way my lungs breathe or the way my heart thumps. I am selfish and argumentative and, honestly, I could fill a novel with all of the reasons why I do not love myself, but what good would that do?

See, there are millions (probably billions) of people on this planet who are sad. There are people with far more legitimate reasons for disliking themselves than me, and probably even more who have a better excuse to cry. The world is sad and ugly because we have made it sad and ugly and it makes sense, really. It is so easy to slip into sadness. It is easy to lie around the house until noon in your pajamas and not wash your hair and get lost in the mindless sitcom on the television rather than putting your brain to good use. It is easy to look in the mirror and decide to hate the way your stomach lays or the texture of your hair. It is so easy to hate yourself because, of all the things you learn from the internet and the television and the mouths of your friends, loving yourself is not one of them.

Do not buy into the idea that you are worthless. If I can offer you one piece of advice, it would be to love yourself. Wake up and decide that you are a wonderful human being, because you are. You smile and laugh and breathe—you are a real living person, and isn’t it amazing that your heart is beating? Your lungs are bringing oxygen to your brain and your blood stream and that is fucking incredible.

Look into the mirror and decide that your smile is the most gorgeous thing you have ever seen, because it is. Your smile is like a snapshot of your soul. Do not spend time working your muscles into a frown. Smile because the sun is up. Smile because the rain is beautiful. Smile because, even though you are alone, there is a pile of good books to read and great films that you have yet to experience.

Fall in love with the colour of your eyes. Remember that the colour is yours and yours alone—the ocean is the same colour as your eyes, not the other way around. Make eye contact, even though you’re shy. Hold eye contact for even longer, since you’re not.

Accept compliments, even though every cell and every fibre in your body is telling you to deny it. Compliments are good—remember them; write them down or store them away in the corners of your mind. Remember that you are, in fact, talented and beautiful and that people do not give compliments for no reason. Take a breath, try your best to say thank you even when it feels impossible.

Take care of yourself. Remember that you only have one body and remind yourself daily of what it is capable of. You can climb a mountain and touch the sky. You can touch and feel and taste. The spaces between your ribs are stronger than you think and it takes a lot more than tripping over your own heels to break your bones. Remember that you are a product of your own decisions. Take care of yourself the way you take care of your sister or brother or mother or father or your favourite person in the entire universe.

Use your voice. You have been graced with the amazing ability to speak—take advantage of it. Never forget what you believe in. Never let anyone tell you what you should believe in. They are not you. Use your voice to tell the world exactly who you are—even the bad parts. Own the essence of your being—wear it with pride. There is only one you and I am well-aware that you have been told this a thousand times before, but it’s true. You are a perfect collection of cells and thoughts—there is only one combination of elements that can create your beauty.

Strive to be the very best version of yourself. Push your limits. Find out what you are capable. You are the only one who can change what you don’t like about yourself. Cut your hair, wear pretty dresses—do whatever the hell you want. Become your vision, but do not lose yourself in the process. Take a step back and become your own hero. You are capable of anything—don’t you dare listen to anyone who doesn’t agree.

I am not a tremendously happy person. I do not love myself the way I should, but at least I try. Do not let sadness and hatred get the better of you. Stand up and realize that you can be whoever you want to be. Your heart beats solely to keep you are alive—never forget that you are a miracle. You have a brain and an opinion and a voice. You have the most beautiful eyes this world has ever seen and a smile that could rival the radiance of the sun.

Do not ever—and I mean ever—think you are worthless. Do not let any single word describe you. You are you, and I cannot begin to explain how beautiful and spectacular you are. You will write brilliant poetry and sing marvellously at the top of your lungs and move mountains. You will touch the edge of the atmosphere and rival stars and build your own constellations. You will smile and you will blind people with the amount of light you have inside of you.

And, even though it might seem impossible, you have to try to love yourself. Just try. Because life is too short to say you never gave it your all.