Learning to Love the Girl in the Mirror🪞

Hi beautiful people on earth! I’m Grace Ann and you can call me @annie07🌷, I hope you’re doing well today. Please read with your heart and deep understanding. Growing up as a teenager, I often found myself silently struggling with insecurities, hidden battles, that many would never even notice. From the outside, I seemed fine. I smiled, laughed, and walking like a normal teenage girl. But inside, I was struggling with the weight of self-doubt, especially about how I looked.  I’ve always had a body that was a little chubbier than what society seems to glorify. And in a world obsessed with looking thin, flawless, and almost perfect, I couldn’t help but feel like I didn’t belong. My face didn’t fit into the definition of what people called beautiful. I didn’t have the perfect nose, the clear skin, or the slim figure that social media praised. Instead, I saw a girl who, in her own eyes, wasn’t enough. The words and judgments of others made everything worse. Some people would look at me with disgust or throw side comments about my weight. They laughed, they criticized, and they didn’t know the damage they were doing to my already fragile self-esteem. And the saddest part was… I started to believe them. I believed that I was not beautiful. That I didn’t deserve to feel confident. That maybe if I were thinner, if I looked different, I’d be more accepted. So I did what I thought would help, I punished myself. Whenever I felt “too fat,” I would skip meals. There were days I didn’t eat all day, thinking that would magically shrink me into someone worthy. I started exercising, walking, jogging, trying every diet I could think of. And yes, I lost weight, but something strange happened. Even after the changes in my body, I still didn’t like what I saw. I’d stand in front of the mirror, staring at my reflection, waiting for the moment I’d finally feel beautiful. But that moment didn’t come. I realized that it wasn’t really my body that needed fixing, it was my heart. My mindset. My view of myself. Because even when the numbers on the scale dropped, the girl in the mirror still didn’t smile back at me.  But then, something changed. I met someone who would slowly, lovingly guide me back to myself. My boyfriend didn’t just love me, he saw me. He saw past the insecurities, past the walls I had built, and into the parts of me I had tried so hard to hide. He made it a mission to remind me, every single day, that I am enough. That I am beautiful, not despite my flaws, but because of them. He would often say, “Don’t let your mind become your biggest bully. Be your own biggest fan.” And while it took time, those words slowly started to heal the parts of me that were broken. He never got tired of reminding me that God made me with purpose, intention, and love. That no mistake was made when He formed my face, my body, my heart. That every curve, every scar, every ‘imperfection’ was a piece of a masterpiece. With his help, and through time, I began to shift the way I spoke to myself. I stopped looking at the mirror to find faults. I started looking at the mirror to find strength. I began to admire my eyes that reflected hope, my smile that brightened someone else’s day, and my body that carried me through life, strong and capable. I realized that true beauty isn’t about being skinny or flawless. It’s about being kind to yourself. It’s about how you carry your yourself, how you love others, and how you love yourself. My boyfriend helped open that door for me, but I had to walk through it myself. And when I did, I discovered a different kind of beauty, the kind that radiates from within.    To anyone reading this who might be feeling the same way I once did, I want you to know this. You are not alone. We live in a world that often tells us we’re not good enough. But you are. You always have been. And no number on a scale, no cruel comment, no filtered photo on social media can change that. Now, when I walk through the streets or stand under a blooming tree like the one in the photo, I smile with confidence, not because I fit someone else’s idea of beautiful, but because I’ve started to believe that I am beautiful in my own way. I’ve learned to love the girl in the mirror. She’s not perfect, but she’s powerful. She’s been through pain, and yet she stands tall. She’s no longer hiding. She’s blooming. This journey of self-love hasn’t been easy. There are still days when the old thoughts come back, whispering lies into my ears. But now, I have a stronger voice inside me. A voice that reminds me of my worth, A voice that was shaped by love, support, and healing. And to the one who helped me believe again, thank you. Thank you for not giving up on me when I had given up on myself. Thank you for loving the version of me that I didn’t know how to love. And most of all, thank you for showing me how to see the beauty that’s been there all along. Because of you, I now walk with confidence. I now smile with sincerity. I now stand with grace. And most importantly, I now love the girl in the mirror.🪞🤍 Again, I’m @annie07 Your beautiful writer✍️