The beauty beneath your skin.

It's 2019 and no mirror is ever big enough, no filter is ever good enough and no person is ever really enough. We have made life an endless race, all of us clueless, running, chasing after beauty and never even stopping long enough to notice that we already possess all the beauty we will ever need.

Outer Beauty.

At the age of 12, a young girl decided that she just wasn't pretty enough. Her snow-white skin, uneven brows, and occasional acne breakouts were not what she had in mind. She desired to be the tall, skinny model prancing around on TV. That little girl was me and I tried everything I could to become that model.

At the age of 15, I told myself that I would be happy once I weighed less than 45 Kg. Spending most of my days in the gym, barely eating anything, I finally achieved my goal. A 45 Kg girl was staring back at me as I stood in front of the mirror searching for new things to criticize about myself. The second promise I made to myself was that I would be happy once I become a model. As my modelling career started nothing else changed.

I still woke up every morning unsatisfied and I still went to bed each night hoping that I would wake up in another body. I needed to realize that no earthly goal that I set for myself and achieved made my insecurities any less.

The truth is: to some people outer beauty truly matters. There is nothing wrong with that, but outer beauty is not all there is. There is absolutely nothing wrong with trying to always look your best, but no amount of make-up and Instagram-filters will ever be able to make you enough. You alone can determine your worth.

Inner Beauty.

I believe that almost every single young person has struggled with this same thing. I don't necessarily mean wanting to weigh less than 45 Kg, but I do mean that at one point or another we have all felt that we are not good enough, pretty enough or important enough. Our inner beauty just never seemed to measure up to our outer beauty.

The most important thing about inner beauty is that you control your it. Yes, you read that right. You are 100% in control of your inner beauty. You see it doesn't take a lot to put on some makeup and dye your hair, but anyone can do that. The trick is to love yourself, unconditionally; with all your flaws. That is what makes you, YOU and that's what makes you beautiful. The key is to be beautiful from the inside out.

7 Ways to explore the Inner Beauty Journey.

1.  Invest in yourself to invest in others.

There is a company called Three L. The founder of this company took me through a process they call, The Mandate. (Feel free to check the company out - https://www.threelifestyle.co.za ).

The Mandate has helped me to realize what my purpose in life is. Crazy, but for some reason knowing why you are alive makes you shine, it gives you so much power and strength and it helps you to realize that you are here to fulfil a purpose that NO ONE ELSE has the power to do.

2. Use the time you have now.

Don't live in the future, you're not there yet. There is a quote that says:

“Be aware of destination addiction: the idea that happiness is in the next place, the next job, or even the next partner. Until you give up the idea that happiness is somewhere else, it will never be where you are".

You have you and you have now, use all of the resources that you have at this moment and do the best that you can with them because honestly, that is the only choice you have. No matter how much you worry about the future there is nothing that you can do to stop it from happening. What you can do however is to change what happens now.

3. Stop judging other people.

This might sound harsh, but it doesn't matter how long you stare at someone else you will never have what they have. No matter how much you judge someone else, it will never make them lose what they have, it will only make you resent yourself more for not having it.

It is important to remember that there will always be someone more desirable than you and you will always be more desirable than someone else and that is okay. The point is that they will never be able to be you, they will never be able to possess the qualities that you have. I can dress a donkey as a horse, it won't make it a horse and it definitely won't make it jump as high as one.

4. Do more things that you love.

Doing something that you love will make you happy. The more time you spend doing what you love the happier you'll be and the more you will fall in love with your own self.

5. Laugh.

Laugh as much as you can. For some odd reason, we only post photos that we believe other people would want to see. We post our heavy make-up, holding the curtain so people think it's a backdrop, straight-face photos because maybe that photo will get us more likes. Maybe our filtered photos will be pretty enough or good enough for others. The strange thing is, the people whose opinion matter will tell you that you look the prettiest when you are happy, laughing when you are being you. Laugh and do what makes you happy, that’s it.

6. Show other people your inner beauty.

Always be kind to everyone around you. I know it is not always easy, to be honest, but you never know what someone else might be going through. You might be the only positive thing they get to experience that day and I can promise you they won't care what eye shadow pallet you wore or whether you were wearing designer jeans.

7.  Be positive.

It doesn't matter how bad the situation is, a little positivity takes you a long way. Being positive in a bad situation does not only show other people how unbelievably strong they can be because of your example, but it also lets them know that nothing in life will ever be bad enough to get you down. If the situation is already bad your negativity will only make it worse.

In the end.

The most important thing to remember about these 7 tips that life is a process. This is not just going to happen overnight. Loving yourself and embracing your inner beauty is a choice that you are going to have to make every single day, over and over again. Choose YOU.