Excerpt from “Beauty is a Beast”

This is an excerpt from The Powder Box Secrets: 7 Tips to Help Teen Girls Achieve Success

You’re too fat. You’re too thin.
You’re wearing that?
Why did you do your hair that way?
Why can’t I just look like her?
What’s wrong with all of this? What’s wrong with these questions?
I’m so tired of all of the lines we are fed through the media, our mouths, our images about what we’re supposed to be.
We are all made differently so how could we expect to look like every ad we see? It’s impossible. Imagine for a minute if we were judged by our heart and thoughts instead of by pounds and looks. How much more could we accomplish if we focused on who we were instead of what we looked like? I ask this question because I was one of those girls who obsessed about what she ate and became so focused on that, that very little else mattered. How do we know if what we see in the mirror is really the way we look?

Secret one: You gotta use your gut.
What is that little voice inside you telling you about beauty and about your unique beauty in particular? When do you feel most beautiful? Whom are you with, and what clothes are you wearing?

On the flip side, if that little voice inside you is telling you you’re not beautiful, ignore it. No one is perfect. The important thing is to accept ourselves and not let our appearance keep us from achieving our dreams.

” I have good days and bad days. Sometimes I think I look really good, and other days I wonder who that ugly girl in the mirror is. I know I shouldn’t think like that, so I’ve started to turn things around. Every time I start to feel ugly or hear my negative voice, I tell myself to stop. I try to remind myself to think about the things I like about myself. It’s like working from the inside out. I have to change my view on the inside so I can feel beautiful on the outside.”
-Emily, 14