As a child I didn't care about my looks. But as I grew older, I realized how defined my chin was, or how the slope of my nose affected my smile. Or how my eyes were too dark compared to the other girls in my class. I also thought about my weight, and hated my curves the older I got. I frantically tried many crash diets to make myself look better. I lost weight, but still felt insignificant, proving that no matter what I did, I may have changed to some people, but never to myself. To this day I have reconciled some parts of who I am, but some of it still pricks my conscience. Self esteem is a strange thing. The dictionary definition is: an estimation of one's self by one's own opinion. I (and I'm sure thousands of others) boy or girl, have most likely had a negative opinion of ourselves. Due to my own experiences, I have developed my own personal view of self esteem, and it is this.
We live in a society where everything is based on looks, skinniness, muscles, talent, or ability. If you don't have one or all of these, it's a cruel world. And I'm sure all of you have heard this before from your parents, but I will repeat it again: There can never be another you. Don't waste it on crash diets, makeup, stress, or degradation. Embrace who you are, because there will only be the original you.
I have come to appreciate things about myself that can't be measured by society's standards. My friendliness, my wit, my laughter, and my ability to stay stubborn. We all have our own special traits, it all depends on how we view them without the filter of society.