paginatres:

For the first 14 years of my life I was always that awkward girl. I had braces with thick red rubber bands on them, unflattering black rimmed glasses, a short choppy haircut that was literally un fixable, and a height that towered most of the boys in my school. Throughout middle school and the beginning of freshman year, I was that girl who had the pretty best friends who would always get complimented while I was left un noticed because of the way I looked. I was that girl with the really embarrassing yearbook pictures that make me seem almost unrecognizable. “Oh, that was you? You look so pretty now!”

Now? I fucking hated when people would say that. 

Like all girls, I’ve been seduced by the media. You turn on the t.v. and you see actresses like Natalie Portman, Megan Fox.. And it wasn’t even just t.v. or movie stars, it was average girls you would see at school, on the internet..I can speak for every girl that there was a point in time where you compared yourself to someone you deemed beautiful and felt like complete shit because your hair isn’t as nice as theirs or your skin isn’t as porcelain.

At 15 years old, I was so obsessed with the idea that i can improve my looks and at least attempt to be as attractive as them. I got contacts, let my hair grow out, plucked my eye brows, discovered make up and did my eye liner thick and winged out. I didn’t want to be that awkward girl anymore.

As I grew older, my looks did improve. But no matter what I did or how many compliments i received, I still felt like that awkward girl behind the glasses. I was 17 and was still never satisfied. You could take a picture of me and i would look at it and hate it. “Eww, that’s nasty.” “I look gross.” “Delete it.” People would get irritated and think i was just craving attention. But I honestly wasn’t. You try living the majority of your teen years being that girl that nobody wanted, that girl who wished their hair grew as fast as their cousins, that would get teased because i looked like a boy.

Now, I’m 19 years old and I’ve overcome that. I mean, I don’t think I’m the most gorgeous girl in the world and of course i still pick at my flaws like there’s no tomorrow. I’m human. There’s still a part of me that wishes I was as flawless as Miranda Kerr, but I honestly don’t see a point of beating myself up for it anymore. I guess what I’m trying to say is that for the first time in my life, I finally feel content with my self. 

I finally found it in me to love myself. I don’t have to put on a cakey mask of make up that would take hours in the morning anymore. I embrace my freckles. I love my height. I don’t have to shop every other week to keep up with “trends.” I wear what the fuck I want and I could care less about what’s hot or not. I have a boy who insists that I don’t even need to get all dolled up whenever we go out. He loves me without make up. It’s a great feeling really. 

So to any girl who is in a battle with themselves about what they look like, I’ve been there. I learned that all you need to do in the end isn’t to buy those $50 heels at Aldo and it isn’t to buy that lip product that Stacey has that makes her lips look bigger. It isn’t to cover up and buy what you think will be the solution.

It’s to look at what you already have to offer and embrace it.

This was too good to not reblog, Sam. But props to you on your new found mentality. I love reading positive posts like these.

It’s to look at what you already have to offer and embrace it.

Doooope.