I Want To Be More Than Just A Pretty Girl

I don’t want to just be a pretty person. I want to be the someone who makes you feel something.

I don’t want to just be the person who agrees with you. I want to be someone who challenges you. I don’t want to be the person who shrinks herself to fit in society. I want to be someone who continuously expands her horizons and crosses fences. I want to be fierce and brave and simply myself. I want to live on my own terms. I want it even if it looks messy, even if people laugh and even if they choose to walk away.

I want to be the girl who is loved for all that she truly is. A girl who doesn’t mask her essence hoping people will give her validation, because you know what? All the validation in the world amounts to nothing when you feel like you’re continents away from your true self. Validation and acceptance feel like pretty little lies when they’re not given for your truth.

They will tell you this or that and you’ll find that oftentimes you’ll do it because you feel it’s what the world wants from you. But the truth is, you’ll never be that people pleaser because people can’t ever agree on the same thing. And because you can never be perfect because perfect is a million different images to each person. It is because the idea of being loved and liked by everyone makes you think you will get what you want. It makes you think you will suffer less. It never does—it actually pushes you father from it and weights you down little by little.

Every day you’re told to look a certain way and to behave a certain way. For example, “Straighten your hair—it’s prettier” or “Don’t say that, it’s too bold and people will not like you.” There will always be a part of you that knows whether the words truly resonate with you or not, whether you are putting on a show for the world or not, whether it truly makes you feel at peace at the end of the day or not.

The truth is, at the end of the day, I believe all of us want to be real. We want to be ourselves, even if the world will not be smitten by us. We just hope it will. Yet the magical thing is that people do end up appreciating people who are true to themselves, because even if they don’t like them on all spectrums, they’re inspired by them. Even if they laugh at them and point at them, they learn to respect them because they choose to stand by themselves. They have an air about them that makes people want to be like them. It shows you that some people can stand to not be liked by everyone and still be fine, that they are in fact comfortable in their skin.

It shows you that what you really need is to like yourself and honor whatever you are, because you’re not here to be like every other person. You’re here to unleash your uniqueness and authenticity. You’re here to be so much more than any label you’re associated with.