I am not defined by the things you see whilst gazing upon me. I am not my creamy white skin tone or my long brown hair. I am not two uneven eyebrows or a stick thin body. People fail to realize that none of that matters. We should not judge one another based on the aspects of ourselves we cannot control.

When did the size my my bra become more important than the size of my heart? Why am I judged by the amount of makeup I’m wearing but not by the amount of time I spend loving on those around me? You see, in this day and age, no one cares about character but about how well they can hide from the harshness of the world. No one desires to be subject to the cruel stares associated with the word “different”. Not a single soul aches to be judged based on the clothes they can or cannot afford.

Why do we hold each other to this impossible standard of perfection? Why can we not look upon others with love instead of judgment? When did our values shift from strength of character and morals to “looking hot” for people we don’t even care about? We as a nation have become blinded to the true reason for waking every morning; Not to show off, but to praise God, whose image we were created in. We were not placed on this earth to shatter the fragile egos around us. We should be putting more time and effort into the people we claim to love instead of our makeup tutorials and workout routines.

Ultimately, no one will ever be perfect, but this world might be closer to it if we learn to stop basing our lives on temporary things such as beauty. We can unite, flawlessly different, and not have to fret about arbitration solely because of how much melanin our skin does or does not possess. God created all beings exactly the way they needed to be. I have no room to consider someone lesser than myself because their eyes are narrower or their nose is bigger. I so desperately wish people would look at me and see me for the splendor of my character instead of the curve of my body. I would much rather be viewed as a dedicated mother instead of a “hot mama”. If we could look past the unattainable and realize that everyone is flawed, we might be able to accept each other for who we are and who we are meant to be. When we can look others in the eyes without looking down on them for their outer appearance, we can begin to grow together as a society.