Nowadays, the term beautiful is thrown at us teenagers everyday. The media is constantly using the idea of “beauty” to show us what we should aspire to be. They claim that we must look a certain way to be considered beautiful.

I personally disagree with the media. I don’t think that anyone can tell me whether or not I’m beautiful. I should be the one to decide and that’s what I do.

What is beauty anyways? Is it based on how you look? Your youth? Is it your personality like most of our parents try to tell us? Is beauty the way you act around those you love? How about how you act around those you hate? How can someone tell you whether or not you’re beautiful?

Beauty is used to describe so many things. “That girl is so beautiful,” “The sky is beautiful today,” “What a beautiful dog/cat/mouse/duck/whatever.” Because beauty is used so much to describe so many things, how does someone determine if something else is beautiful?

Now, what about beauty’s counterpart: ugly? How can someone or something be ugly? Ugly is such an ugly word, don’t you think? People hate it when it’s used to describe them, but love to use it to describe others.

I don’t believe in the word ugly. Everything and everyone has something beautiful about them. For some it’s looks, others it’s their personality. For some people, they have a beautiful talent that equally makes them beautiful.

Beauty is everywhere and inside everyone. It’s not hard to find. All you need to do is walk outside, take a look around you. I’m sure you’ll find something that you believe is beautiful. Once you do that, look in the mirror. Everyone has something beautiful about them. Everyone is beautiful.

So now, I challenge you to find what’s beautiful about you and everyone around you. And, once you have, answer these questions: What is beauty? What does beauty mean to you?