If any of you are like me, then you have watched all nine seasons of "One Tree Hill" at least four different times. With every episode I re-watch, I fall in love with Brooke Davis all over again. The first time I watched the TV show, I prayed to be just like Brooke Davis; her strength; her confidence; her attitude; her sassy comebacks; her courage; her beauty. She was an inspiration and I admired her so much.
I know Brooke Davis may just be a character on a TV show, but the actress Sophia Bush holds herself to the Brooke Davis standard every day. From her being an advocate for women and children to her fight against the standards of beauty, she always holds herself with grace and poise. She started the "zero is not a size" campaign, as well as responded to Urban Outfitter's "eat less" T-shirt and she still remained successful and loved by many. She is smart, empowering and courageous and there many reasons why we should all aspire to be like Brooke Davis.
1. She does not let stereotype or rumors define her.
While she may have been the "party girl" at the beginning of high school, by graduation day she changed her life around. She tried to ditch the party lifestyle and ran for class president. She fought back rumors that were spread about her. While she was the head cheerleader, she did not let that stereotype define who she was as a person. She made us realize that we are more than what people say about us.
2. She stood up for herself.
When things did not go her way, she did not place blame on others. She fought back and proved to herself that she was worth it. She did not let her past mistakes influence or affect her future. She took everything with a grain of salt and moved her life forward one day at a time. She made us feel like it is okay to be who we truly are and that we should never apologize for being ourselves.
3. She made us realize beauty is not a size.
She refused to let her success at such an early age get to her head. She acknowledged the problem today's society has with defining what beauty should be and fought back saying, "Anorexia is a disease, not a fashion statement". She made us realize that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Beauty comes from your confidence within yourself, not from the size you are.
4. She made us realize we should all believe in love.
Brooke Davis always wanted to be loved. She craved to be loved, but she always seemed to have trouble with it. I mean, not many good things can come out of a situation when your best friend falls in love with your boyfriend. However, with all the pain and heartache that Brooke went through, she still believed in love. She made us realize that while true love may not come around often, you cannot be scared when it does. You have to go for it, and the best things can come out of letting love in.
5. She didn't feel good enough.
Just like almost every person everywhere, she had times where she did not feel like she was good enough-like she was not pretty enough or smart enough. She had little voices in her head telling her that she was not worth it. That is what made her easy to relate to, because we saw her at her high points, when she had nothing but success, and we also saw her at her low points, making us realize that it is okay to get discouraged as long as we pick ourselves back up again.
6. She made us feel like we can own the world.
She made us realize that life is rough. Life is not always sunshine and daisies, but there are very rough patches that sometimes you do not know if you will make it out. You have to constantly push yourself forward and know that at the end of it all, you are stronger than you will ever know. You are a survivor and you are a warrior.
Thank you to B. Davis for being an awesome inspiration to people everywhere. You rock.
