I wish I was thinner.

I wish I was shorter.

I wish I had straight hair.

I wish I was tanner.

When are we going to stop with the “I wishes” and change to the” I ams”?  We are who we are and there is no way we can change that.

There are so many different types of people in the world. Some people are made to be tall, and others short. Some people have super curly hair and others have pin-straight strands.

It doesn’t matter. People always want what they don’t have, so why not just enjoy the fact that they have exactly what someone else would kill for?

These days, the way we look is heavily influenced by the media. Our eyebrows must be on “fleek”, and outfit “on point.” No doubt for the daily #Selfie.

Every day we see celebrities on magazine covers and on TV. We see their thin, toned and tanned bodies and ache to be like them.

With each day comes a new thought of eating healthier and running an extra mile to get closer to having the body we desire.

We put ourselves through “no carb diets,” juice cleanses and intense workouts – just to get to where we want to be.

Now, there is nothing wrong with looking at celebrities for motivation if for those who truly want to lose weight. But what many people should realize is that many of the magazine covers are overly Photoshopped, meaning the people on the covers are distorted enough to make themselves look skinnier and even tanner.

The people on the covers are not real. Get it through your minds. It’s fake; they’re fake. It’s a trick and everyone is falling for it.

What magazines should really be showing is self beauty. If you feel good about yourself, that’s all that matters.

One day I was asked why I looked so nice. I simply said because I wanted to, and then added “for myself.”

I don’t consider myself to have a low amount of self-confidence. I know that I am who I am, and if people don’t like me because of that, then too bad. I’m not going to change just to cater to what other people want out of me.

Many people believe that girls want to look good just for guys. That’s not true. Girls want to look good so they can feel good about themselves.

When you wake up in the morning, you have two decisions. 1) You can decide to look presentable and throw some mascara on or 2) you can go as a bum looking like you just rolled out of bed.

I choose to look presentable. It boosts my confidence and helps me get ready for the day. If I decide to “bum it” one day, halfway through the day I regret my decision because I feel like I could have put more effort into myself.

But in the end, you do you. And when you do you, just remember that you are one of a kind. And no one, and I mean no one, has the right to make you feel like you don’t belong or that you aren’t beautiful.

So stop trying to be someone you’re not.  In the next few years, you’ll be in college; that’s a whole new group of people out there to take on. And I bet in that whole pool of people you’ll find someone who likes everything that you do and won’t judge you for all the different things that you do.

You’re cool. I promise. Keep your head up and never get down on yourself.

Someone out there loves your natural curls, the freckles spread across your cheeks and, of course, your no good, rotten smile.

And hopefully, you do, to0.

So let’s stop wishing we were better than we are and start to realize that we are already individual masterpieces. And every day we continue to make it better.

I am smart.

I am funny.

I am beautiful.

I am me.