"You are enough. You are so enough. It is unbelievable how enough you are."
With spring break right around the corner, I know a lot of girls, including myself, are worried about their physical appearance. Girls at every college campus are counting every single calorie, going to the rec center during every break, and obsessing over the idea of how they are going to look while they are laying out by the pool. Don't get me wrong, it is so good to take care of your body, to exercise and eat foods that will nourish your body, but is it healthy to obsess over your self image so much that it is all that you think about? So much that it distracts you from your studies? So much that it makes you look at every other girl and think, "Why can't I be her?" So much that it makes you doubt, even for one second, that you are enough?
The answer is no. Absolutely not. It is NOT OK to EVER think that you are not good enough. Life is big. So big that we can not even fathom the idea of freshman year ending, or of graduating from college, or of getting married and having children. Life is too big to stress so much over something so small, like our physical image over one week of the year. What is it all for? To impress the frat boy across the street? Yes, it might be nice to get some validation from the cute guy you've been crushing on, but life is about so much more than being pretty. Life is about love, passion, mistakes, and lessons. It's about laughing with your friends until you cry. It's about spending time with your family. It's about finding someone who loves you for your soul, and can see right through your "pretty." It's about loving yourself-- loving yourself so much that you are comfortable in your own skin.
"Don't call me pretty. I'm clever and creative and brave. I am talented, kind, and well-read. Anyone can be "pretty" with enough effort. I'm so much more than pretty."
Do you think that people will be able to tell how creative or talented you are just by the way you look in the bikini that you bought from Target? Or how smart and kind you are just by how big your thigh gap is?!
This is for the girls who have been working tirelessly to look like a model in the brand new swimsuits they obsessed over while online shopping.
Be beautiful.
Be kind.
Be brave.
Be smart.
Be strong.
Be curious.
Be spontaneous.
Be everything you have ever dreamed of being. But do not for one second think that you are not good enough because of what you look like on the outside.
You are capable.
You are worthy.
You are enough.
You are MORE than enough.
