Compare for what? Don’t you luh you?!

Did you know that research has shown that adolescent girls exposed to idealized beauty images in advertisements reported increased levels of body dissatisfaction, negative moods, and more appearance comparisons than girls who saw advertisements not containing idealized models?  

Better yet, were you aware that body dissatisfaction has even been liked to negative mental outcomes and unhealthy behaviors? Simply put, it's healthier to love yourself where you're at in your journey and even harder to get to where you'd like to be. 

This is why I allow my child to embrace her identity and everything that she was naturally born with. I refuse to try packaging her to my likings for self gratification. She's not an accessory, she's an individual. An individual who I work relentlessly for and with to make sure she doesn't blend. I teach her to "love yourself." If she likes huge Afros, then rock it. Weird, uncoordinated clothes at times? Hey, do you. As long as it's clean, I'm cool! Embrace what makes you, YOU! That's the only way to lead and stand out. I even talk about self love and confidence to my mentees. It's an imperative part of growing. It there's something that you'd like to improve, then by all means—change habits and discipline yourself to achieve it. 

There's nothing wrong with God's paintbrush. How he created you is perfect fine. Natural touch ups here and there are fine. There's always room for improvement. But please, let's stop using artificial body images as goals. Your hair texture is fine. Your skin tone is amazing. Your shape is fine. Embrace you. Love you. Life is dope when you love you from within first.