Remember Your Worth

Brittany J., Indiana, USA

I was recently working on a project about body image and the media. I visited a local mall to interview dressing room attendants, who frequently see how people view their body image, to discuss my project. However, when I got there I started to feel self-conscious. I lost courage and felt like I could approach them only if I were prettier or skinnier. So instead, I thought I’d take some pictures of advertisements throughout the mall. But then I started feeling too self-conscious for that, too. I felt like people would judge me or think I was weird.

When I left the mall, I had made no progress on my project. The car ride home was long and miserable because the whole time I was just wishing I looked different. Suddenly I realized that the visit was completely related to my project. Even though I didn’t talk to anyone or take any pictures, I left the mall feeling worthless. I could see how I had allowed the media’s overbearing influence to overwhelm me. But it doesn’t need to be that way.

I want you to know that you are beautiful. You are you for a reason. God made you the way you are because He has a special purpose for you in life. Don’t get discouraged by the way the world may look at you. Don’t let worldly images affect the way you see yourself.

I encourage you to be happy with yourself and try to become the person you want to be—not someone the world thinks you should be. Please believe me when I say that you are beautiful. Remember that when God sees you—He sees your worth.