To all of those who have ever felt undeserving.

Being confined in a dark mental state can lead to believing many negative things about your life and who you are, but things that happen usually happen for a reason. So if you are questioning what you should be doing with your life, you would be given the answer if you were supposed to know it at this time. As it is stated in the movie Hugoby the character Hugo Cabret, "I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too."

Therefore, it is understandable to have insecurities and it is very difficult not to. But, your insecurities should not define you. You are not the mean things you tell yourself. You are not the mean things others tell you. We never really can “see” ourselves, so we tend to magnify how we perceive our looks, our actions, and put everything under a microscope. We are hard on ourselves because we can be our own worst critic and best supporter. You are so much more than your looks. You are your personality, your music, your favorite books, your wittiness, your creativity, your beliefs, your views, your likes, your dislikes, your favorite things, your words, your feelings. You are not just a face in the crowd. You are worth something because life wouldn't be the same without you and nothing would be the same without you and no one would be the same without you. Everyone comes in your life for a reason and you cross paths even for the briefest moment. You may not always gain knowledge or wisdom or experiences or a lesson learned from certain things but it changes and alters and shapes you.

We have all experienced a wide variety of things and events but we all know how to comfort one another. It's strange how sometimes we try to convince someone else – maybe someone we’ve never even met – that they're amazing, even when you can't convince yourself. So, think about that for a while. Think about you. And then think about what separates you from anyone else who you look up to for having seemingly stable thoughts. And think about all the people you've ever met and all the people you love and who love you and think how they all have a story and how all of them include you. You are an important voice in the world. You are an important voice that can change the world. You are an important voice to your own world – your mind, body, and spirit, and it can’t hurt to start saying nice things to it. Practice feeling deserved.