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I stood many times in front of the mirror wishing that a miracle would happen and change my whole appearance. Well, apparently my wish is impossible. I used to run whenever I saw a mirror just so I would not look at myself and have a mental breakdown. 

Of course you are waiting for me to tell you how much I love myself now, and how you can do the same thing referring to my successful experience with self-acceptance, but no, I won’t. 

I actually struggle with loving myself every day. It’s hard to see all the requirements that I have to meet to be beautiful and to see myself as beautiful enough. But, I always try to remind myself that I am a miracle. I did not choose this body. It was selected previously by my soul, and my soul chose it for a reason. 

There are so many cells that work to keep me alive. Every single cell is an individual living thing. There is a whole planet inside of me working because they love me. 

One of my favorite creation stories suggests that our faces are the faces we loved the most in our past life. I look at my face sometimes and think of how much I loved those face features once, and in this life, I sometimes call them ugly. 

Every living thing echoes inside of us: dogs, apples, jellyfish, and yet we still apply a really shallow perspective to what we consider to be beautiful. What makes self-love hard for me, and for a lot of people I meet, is that we know too much about ourselves. We know every awkward moment and every scar in us. 

I believe it’s not about the experiences; it’s more about being vulnerable. I do not know why we get scared of knowing or telling too much about ourselves. I wonder what the world would look like if we all answer questions honestly. 

Person 1: Hey! How are you doing? 

Person 2: I’m really depressed. I tried to kill myself last night, but the sky was beautiful, so I could not leave. 

Person 1: Do you need to talk about it? I will say every positive sentence I have in my mind to try to stop you. 

Person 2: Yes, please. I also will need a hug. 

It’s so simple. We all need it, but no one is willing to do it. Welcome to Earth! After all, I will not ask you to love yourself because I know it’s hard, but I want to remind you that once, the face you see in the mirror meant the world to you. Be kind to everyone you meet. We all fight our own battles. We all do our best every day. Maybe it’s not enough for others, but it’s all we can offer.

Fatimah Subhi

Staff Writer

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