I believe that  you are not your body. Honestly, this boils down to loving yourself for who you are. What I am focusing on is realizing that being a smart and a caring person will take you farther in life that just being “pretty” on the outside. We all see the images of the drop dead gorgeous women that are put in magazines and we think they are “perfect” and “I want to be like them.” The reality is, that what really matters, is on the inside. Do you really want to shield your inner beauty? Or let it shine I believe that the message we should be putting out to the world is that “You are not your body, it is just a machine to carry your mind and soul.” The parts that truly matter are the ones that impact change and positively affect others.

I have met so many people that just want to look “beautiful” or be “perfect” in the eyes of others. I have learned to accept that everyone is beautiful in their own unique way. You don’t have to be skinny or have the perfect body to be considered beautiful. I believe that you should be confident in yourself and how you are a smart intelligent person rather than just looking good. As a teen, there is a great deal of pressure from your peers, society, and the media to be physically attractive. I know that your mind is greater that your body and what matters is not seen by everyone. As a young adult is also challenging to accept yourself for who you are and not dwell upon what people think. We always hear are parents say, “we love you for who you are”, and  “love yourself no matter what” but in the end they are right.

I had one friend once who only cared about being in the popular crowd or being thought of as beautiful. She would have done anything to be at the top. Whether it be, leave her friends, or change who she was as a person she would do it. When you have this mindset and all you want is for people to consider you beautiful then you will do anything to accomplish this. Truly I believe that to be happy with yourself and not be influenced by the media or magazines is to do things for yourself to make you feel beautiful. If you are a person that strives to be like one of those celebrities or models in the magazine, you need to realize that they are not what you want to be like. Although they might be rich or famous for their beauty they go to great lengths, they do things such as plastic surgery, makeovers, and 24-karat gold facials. There should not be a definition of beautiful you should just love yourself for who you are.

As I look through magazines such as Vogue or People and watch movies I can’t help but notice how they lack the diversity and variety of the world we live in. When have you ever seen a person in a wheelchair, or a curvy woman, or a child that does not look “normal”. If you really look back, you see the woman that are skinny and “fit”, men that are muscular, and children look happy. Personally” I think that someone that is truly happy,” is someone that is confident and doesn't look a certain way. When they do try to add diversity it is always very obvious or staged. This all seems very silly to me it almost seems that our society is embarrassed to accept who we really are. The fact of it is that diversity and variation are the things that make our world interesting.

I strongly encourage all of you to take a step back and see how you can change some of these norms. All this world needs are people a that are willing to accept everyone for who they are. I believe that we should be putting out the words “love yourself for who you are”, and “you are not your body.” If you are part of a marketing campaign that has to do with beauty or something related to it try to stand up change the norm of beauty or perfection. If we change the definition of beauty today than the image of “perfection” will not have such an impact on our lives and brains in the future