Why is it that when we see or talk about someone being good looking, we automatically become insecure about ourselves? It’s like we believe we cannot be beautiful if someone else is as well. It’s time we kick this confidence-killing habit to the curb and be at peace with ourselves and others around us.

In this day and age of social media models, we compare ourselves up and down, picking out every flaw we have that others don’t seem to have. I used to fall victim to this. I’d spend hours scrolling through social media staring at these girls and thinking “Man, I would kill to look like her.” But you know what, I’ve stopped that self-esteem deterioration.

Why? Their beauty has nothing to do with mine. I have heard people complain over how good looking they may think someone is, as if it lessens their own beauty. And guess what? It doesn’t! We can all be beautiful together in this beautiful world. Imagine that! Of course, it can be easier said than done, but there’s always a few things I keep in mind when I feel my self confidence begin to drop.

Firstly, most of those Instagram pictures you are obsessing over have been edited to perfection. That girl you want to look like so badly usually doesn’t even look like her own self in real life. Second, people tend to put their best foot forward on social media, usually showing the glamorous footage of their lives instead of the not-so-perfect side. But most importantly, this life isn’t a beauty contest. Our purpose on Earth shouldn’t be striving to be the prettiest girl. There is way more to life than that. Instead, we should be striving to be healthy, happy and successful, however that may look to you. Strive to be a better you, instead of becoming more like another person.

They say “beauty is in the eye of the beholder," and I wholeheartedly believe that. Your definition of beauty may be completely different from someone else's, and that's OK. Just because

that girl is beautiful, doesn’t mean you are not. This is where we go wrong. We are constantly seeing other people’s beauty as the beauty we lack. And that just isn’t the case ladies. Her beauty is not absence of your own. We are all so beautiful in so many different ways, and that alone is beautiful in itself.