Maybe you've been scrolling through your Instagram feed recently and had the misfortune to see post after post of beautiful people living their best life and looking damn good doing it. Now you're left wondering why you haven't had your glow up yet. Now you're wracking your brain trying to figure out when you'll have your time to truly thrive. It's frustrating to feel like you're the last one growing and glowing, to feel like the universe is playing a cruel trick on you by letting everyone else outshine you. It's pretty easy when you feel that way to look at others and wish you were them, or at least hope that they'd be knocked down a peg or two. I'm not saying those feelings are right, but let's admit that we've all experienced those feelings before- some of us way more than others. And right there lies the problem.
Want to know the real reason you haven't had your glow up yet?
It's because a glow-up starts on the inside.
Until that transformation occurs, you can't possibly expect to see any changes happening on the outside. A glow up isn't just about looking good. It's about putting in the time and energy doing something you love and getting great joy from it. That happiness radiates from within and that's what makes you look good. It's about focusing on your achievements and goals instead of stressing over someone else surpassing you.
That determination is what makes you look good. It's about learning to accept the parts of yourself you can't change and trying your best to appreciate what you are and what you have. That self-love and self-awareness is what makes you look good. It's about raising others up without tearing yourself down in the process. It's that positivity that makes you look good.
Comparison is the thief of all joy... and that lack of joy makes you feel less than you are.
When you focus on all the things you lack, whether it be in your physical appearance, the experiences you've had, or even the stuff you own, you're never going feel good enough. Next time you see an Insta Baddie in your feed, instead of focusing on the way they look compared to you, focus on how they hold themselves. Do they look confident in themselves? Do they look open and inviting? Focus on their eyes. Do they have a spark of happiness in them, or do they look envious and unsure? It is details like this that show who is really glowing, inside and out.
Minding your business, focusing on creating a more positive mindset for yourself, and doing things that make you happy are what make you grow. It's that change for the better that people notice! Even if they can't quite put their finger on what exactly is different, they'll see that glow surrounding you.