I could preach about your beauty, tell you that you are stunning and anyone who thinks differently is ignorant, invalidated and incorrect. I could tell you that there is no one on earth who looks like you do, and that it is your unique beauty that makes you so incredibly special. I could exclaim that every wrinkle under your eyes and every scar on your skin tells a story that is uniquely yours; that every imperfection you are trying to hide under layers of clothing, hours of cover-up and money down the drain from buying devices to train your waist and underwire to enhance your womanhood is done out of the false idea that you are unworthy and that you don’t need any of it; that you are a stunning reflection of God and that He made you in His infallible, unchanging and perfect image.

And all of this is undoubtedly and inherently true.

However, instead of focusing on all of the ways your physical presence is beautiful, I am going to tell you a few things that are more important:

• Your favorite cereal
• The way you make others feel
• The movie you know will always cheer you up on a rough day
• Your persistent strength, even when you don’t see it
• The way you look when you wake up in the morning
• Your ability to inspire
• The way you drink out of the milk carton
• Your unending support for those you love
• Your uncensored, unapologetic laugh

You are so much more than a cup size or the number on a scale or the calories you eat in a day. You are so much more than silky hair and clear skin and long legs. You are so much more than your biggest insecurity.

You are the reflection of your Creator. You are the way you snarl your nose when you giggle. You are the love you give your friends. You are the laughter you evoke from the downtrodden. You are the backbone of the oppressed. You are the music that inspires change.

You are so much more than your beautiful smile; you are the reason people smile.

This is the time to redefine the word beauty where it no longer means a measurement, a number or a reflection. Where, instead, beauty means laughter. It means a glowing, authentic essence of being where a person is their best and truest self. Where it means joy and honestly and care. Where it means sacrifice and support and love. A definition that cannot be measured, weighed or compared; a word that has as many definitions as people on the planet.

Don’t strive to have beauty: strive to be beautiful.

Please know that you are so, so incredibly beautiful, but out of all of the things that you are, pretty is the least important.