Eiffel Tower Insecurities: A Letter to All the Beautiful Girls Who Feel Ugly

Hello! I’m coming to you midweek due to a situation I came across yesterday. As you know, I am spending some time in France right now, and arrived in Paris on Monday. Yesterday we went to see the Eiffel Tower, and take pictures before getting to our planned itinerary. Something about the people in my major is that we lovvveee a good insta post. Like, we will pose for 20 minutes until we find the perfect snap of us. Yesterday was no different. We all gathered around in front of the Eiffel Tower, taking turns snapping pictures of each other. I saw one-by-one all of my beautiful, fit, fashionable classmates take amazing pictures, looking as flawless as ever. My friends snapped some pictures of me, but when I looked at them, I couldn’t have liked myself less. Why wasn’t I looking like my classmates in my pictures? Why do I look so much bigger, rounder, curvier than the rest of them?

After that moment, that feeling, I didn’t want to get my picture taken anywhere else. I was so insecure about my body, my self image, the way I was different from the girls on the trip, that I let it ruin an amazing experience.

Okay, here comes the preaching. To all the girls who have ever felt similar to the way I did, who have ever compared yourself to other women, who have ever told yourself lies that you are not pretty/fit/fashionable/popular/talented/etc enough, this is for you.

You are enough. You are worthy. You are beautiful, sexy, gorgeous, no matter what size jeans you wear, no matter how different you might look from your peers. How quick are we to encourage our friends, to let them know how beautiful they are, and get offended when they say something negative about themselves, but when we are speaking to ourselves, we don’t have the same reaction. Treat yourself like your best friend. Get mad, get offended when you or anyone else tells you that you are less than perfect. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, and you should never feel like that is not enough.

So, as my mom said very passionately on the phone last night, TAKE THE DAMN PICTURE. Own your body, your outfit, your day. You have all the power in the world to make your day amazing. You choose whether you are going to love yourself. Let’s choose joy today. Let’s not compare ourselves to the people around us, let’s have eyes that see how unique and beautiful we all are.

I hope that these words encouraged some gals who have been feeling meh about some part of yourself. Know that you aren’t the only one, and know that all of those lies you tell yourself about not being good enough are just that: lies. Let’s work together to love not only the women in our lives, but love ourselves.

I hope you all have beautiful weeks!