In my 13×15 room, I have everything that defines me. It is cluttered with little trinkets and accessories that portray the girl that I am, the girl that I would like the world to see me as. I have my initial, which I decorated with my favorite colors and flowers, hanging up on my door. My bookshelf is filled with at least five creative coloring books and 10 or so children’s books that I have yet to donate. I have my navy blue covered Bible with crisp, white pages sitting in the corner and, last but not least, a quote my mother gave me that I posted above my vanity mirror as soon as she gave it to me. In the bold, cursive, black letters it reads: “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful.” And how true those six little words are. 

In a society where pretty girls are continually praised for their looks, young women are raised on unrealistic body standards due to social media, and all the perfect, tiny figures created in Photoshop, it is no wonder why many women struggle to find their inner beauty. Shows like “The Bachelor,” where only the “hottest” women are contestants, or even a throwback to “America’s Next Top Model,” are wasted minutes of women defining beautiful in the wrong way. Magazine covers have titles like, “33 Smoking Hot Women of the Year” instead of “33 Times You Loved Yourself.” Society pushes women to look absolutely perfect, whereas perfect does not even exist.

You have heard it before, and I am going to tell you again. Beauty is not defined by your smoky eye makeup on Saturday night or the 352,248 crunches you did to impress the boy next door. Beauty is expressed by what is in your heart and what makes you happy. I am a big believer of letting your true colors show and not judging a book by its cover. Not all pretty faces are genuine, and not all people are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside. Sometimes, people just suck as good human beings and lack the capability of being sincere and kind, no matter how stunning they appear to be.

Sometimes, women are not genetically gifted with a flawlessly symmetrical face with perfect complexion, long tan legs, and Angelina Jolie hair. However, she is a perfect example of my message. Again, and again, I’ve seen Jolie get bashed for her supposed 20-plus surgeries to get her amazing features. However, how many times does she repeat how happy she is now? She has become her own kind of beautiful and did not let the hate of society change herself or her inner beauty. And that is all you can really ask for. 

We may not have the Hollywood-described perfect look all the time – maybe not even at all – and we may not be the perfect tens or knockouts society idolizes, but trash all that. It all comes down to your heart and what you are willing to let people see from within. Be your own kind of beautiful, flaws and all. Have your own sense of style without caring what other people think about those rad-colored jeans. Don’t pressure yourself by setting 21st century unrealistic standards for yourself.

Ultimately, be happy in your own skin and proudly be the strong woman you are. We only get one life, so start doing what makes you happy right now now – whatever it might be, instead of worrying about what society thinks of you. Be your own kind of beautiful. I think that the most amazing thing you can be, is yourself.