Your Eyes Need to Behold Your Beauty

I read a meme tonight on Instagram that said "A million guys can tell a woman she is beautiful, but she won't believe it until the man she loves tells her."

I wretched.

What are we teaching girls and women? I commented on the pic to the effect that the only opinion that matters is the woman's - that we each need to value our own self to recognize our own beauty rather than relying on the opinions of others. We women need to build ourselves up and own our own esteem.

We raise ourselves up. That is why it is called self-esteem and self-worth. It starts within us and that is what others see outside us. Confidence is indeed the new sexy.

I have a former guy friend who loves to compare women to one another. Let's call him... shithead. Shithead not so subtly insults one woman to compliment another. (Note, I said he is a former friend.) I encourage every woman who encounters a guy like him to walk away, right after telling him where to shove his opinion.

Then, tell yourself ten times you are beautiful. Really mean it. One of my freshman year suitemates did that every night while looking in the mirror to boost her self-esteem. (It must have worked because she was gorgeous and smart.)

Oh, and the guys who do comment on your beauty or great body? Don't take it as a compliment until they compliment your mind, too. Brains are hot. Smart is sexy.

But, what if no one compliments anything, you ask? Baby girl, compliment yourself! Your opinion of you counts the most.

You know who you are going to live with your whole life? Yourself. Everyone else is part-time, but your relationship with yourself is full-time.
Make a list of ten things you love about yourself. Forget the shit you want to change or worry about. Stick with what you love. Read it first thing in the morning - every morning.

You compliment you. Forget guys telling you, "You are pretty." Who cares what they think!? Your opinion of you matters. O-N-L-Y yours. Start believing in your beauty. Believe in all the facets of it:

• your beautiful face,
• your beautiful body,
• your beautiful mind,
• your beautiful soul.

Raise your self-esteem by realizing your self-opinion is the only one that matters.

Carlie Lawson writes about blockchain tech, cryptocurrency, mobile and online video, entertainment, sports and fashion. She wrote for JollyJo.tv and Movitly for a combined seven years. A former newspaper journalist, she now mostly ghost writes for her clients via her company, Powell Lawson Creatives. Invalid Inputs is her first independent, formal blog. She earned BAs in Journalism and Film & Video Studies from the University of Oklahoma. She also earned her Master of Regional & City Planning at OU. She has also worked as a model since she was 17.