I challenge thee

Say nice things about yourself to yourself when you are having a bad day.

Just stop when you walk in front of the mirror, and look at yourself. Look at you! Look at how gorgeous you are. Look at that hair, oh man, it's so fucking delightful. Just look at it. LOOK AT IT. And those eyes. HOLY WOW. They are really something. And your cheeks, when you smile, when you frown, when you cry- absolutely fucking gorgeous, all the time. Isn't it amazing, how beautiful you are when you look at yourself?

Look at the rest of you, too. I like to look at my hands, I love my hands, they're so tiny, slender, elegant. If I bend them the right way, I can convey a meaning of different things, I can write story after story with these hands and fingers. And my arms! Oh my goodness, look at them, with random little bumps here and there- isn't that funny? And the freckles in a triangular shape on my arm- aren't those neat? I just love them. And that mole, there, on my right arm- that's how I learned to tell the difference between right and left as a kid.

And my legs. Holy fucking hell, legs. LEGS. Legs are great. Muscular legs, lean legs, flabby legs. All of them. Love them. Fucking beautiful. They get you places. They let you dance and run.

And even if you don't have these things, you're still beautiful. Look at you, look at all you still have! You are still human, you still have a beating heart, a digestive system, a pair of lungs that let you breathe in all the air around you. And when you do, there's still gas exchange, and then those gases are pumped through the heart to the brain, to the organs, and everything functions. Maybe it doesn't always function right, but the underlying biology is still there, and there is so much inherent beauty in that, in all its complexity.

And look at all you can do! Everyone can do things. Maybe they're not things that are "useful", but you can still do stuff. You can pick flowers, or sing, or pick things up, you can communicate and learn, love, cry, you can become anything. You can become a vast array of things with your vast array of skills. And maybe you don't have a really cool one, like drawing or beatboxing or being able to come up with poetry on the fly. So what? Those talents are just as beautiful and wonderful as any of yours. You don't have to be excellent at things, either, to feel good about them. I can make outfits. Woohoo! Look at that, look at that thing I can do. I can come up with stories- I am so proud of that. I wear that like a badge of honour.

And feelings, look at all the feelings you have! You are human, after all, and humans have so many different emotions, and they are so different for everyone. And they are such wonderful mysteries, as is everything else about the brain, about the body, about people. People are such puzzles, mysteries of biology and personality and decoration.

Let's just stop there for a minute, and zoom back out. Just look at you- all of you. Everything you have done and will do, everything you are doing, the ways in which you have chosen to dress and decorate yourself, the things you can do, the things you wish you could, the thoughts you have from day to day. People are just so beautiful, and you are a person.


Yesterday, I had to wake up at five thirty. I was exhausted and grumpy all day, and I didn't do as well on my essay as I would have liked. So on my way down for dinner, I stopped in front of the mirror, and looked at all the positive things I see in myself. I think the best thing is that I am far from perfect, but I get up every day anyway, and just try to get through the day, plan for the future, make people laugh, learn something new. You are imperfect too, and you have still done things. And you can do more things now if you want. All you have to do is get up anyway, get up despite, and someday it will start feeling more like getting up because.


I just feel like I have all this self-esteem coming out of me, radiating off like waves. Sure, maybe I procrastinate and can sometimes accidentally say really mean things, and sometimes I'm clumsy and embarrass myself, and I often don't pick up on things that are sometimes embarrassingly obvious. So what? I'm still here. I get up because I am worth getting up for, because I know people want to see me today, because I want to go to school and learn, because I want to try and make someone else happy. And some days, yes, I get up despite the fact that going to math does not sound like my idea of fun. But you just gotta keep trying anyway.
That's why I don't like the quote "do or do not, there is no try" because it draws such a distinct line between success and failure. There is try, and sometimes it's all you can do. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don't. Sometimes you don't even try. Pick yourself up and keep going anyway.


People are just so beautiful, and I just feel like the world is, too. And life, life is so amazing, and that's why I'm studying biology.

yer pal,
swegan :)