Once you begin to fully and unconditionally love who you are, you become a much happier person. You realize that you are so much more than your looks or the mistakes you've made. You forget about what others think of you. You stop comparing yourself to others and you can finally be content just being yourself.

It's difficult to explain how to get to the point where you can truly say you love yourself. For some people, loving who they are has never been an issue. For others, it is an every day struggle. It is different for every person because it is a mindset; but, once you are able to get to the point of loving who you are, your whole outlook on life becomes more positive.

When you love yourself, you are able to make mistakes and just say "oops, I'll do better next time," rather than feeling like a failure.

When you love yourself, you are able to walk past the prettiest girl or coolest guy on campus and be confident in your own skin.

When you love yourself, you don't need compliments to make you feel worthy or special, because you already know how special you are.

When you love yourself, you want to be the best you can be. While you are content with who you are, you should always take steps to improve yourself mentally, physically and spiritually.

When you love yourself, you know you deserve the absolute best and don't settle for anything less.

When you love yourself, you are finally able to be unashamedly you.

There will still be times when you feel as if you are not enough and there will still be times when you catch yourself comparing yourself to others. No matter how hard you try, there will always be someone prettier, stronger or smarter than you. The defining moment is when you no longer dwell on your insecurities and let them bring you down to the point of self-loathing.

Once you start to love yourself, you start to love life. You spend less time worrying about the little things and more time doing the things you love to do with the people who love you. Loving who you are makes it easier for you to love others. It all starts with you. You were fearfully and wonderfully made by the same God that created the mountains, the oceans, and the universe. That alone should make you feel pretty darn special.