I hated the person I saw in the mirror. Things did not look right and I hated it—my skin was too pale. The bags under my eyes are the size of a grocery bag. My body made me want to be someone else. My hair was dry and dull. My eyes were uneven. Taller than everyone in my whole school. I hated myself. I hated Jaelyn Hernandez. I wished to be someone else, oh how I wanted not to live my life.
Aren´t you hot, just take that thing off already?!
To conceal and hide away I would wear extremely oversized hoodies. Lik a ´shell¨ I hid away in order to feel okay. No matter the weather, it could have been 100 degrees and I would be wearing a hoodie, you would never see me without one on. This was the only way I knew how to be comfortable.
Living in California it is always hot. With this and my extreme insecurity, I was suffering more than just being insecure. So my life consisted of hating myself and always being hot. This became something my family began to notice. I would come home walking from school red as a tomato with sweat running down my body.
The main person in my family to notice was my grandma. She would always make comments like ¨Ï´m sweating just looking at you¨ and ´Aren´t you hot, just take that thing off already¨. I paid no mind to these remarks and kept on wearing my hoodie. One day my grandma and I went out and that´s when she finally asked ¨Why do you always have a hoodie on?¨. I did not know what to say at first, and after a few moments of silence I burst out into tears and said ¨BECAUSE I HATE MYSELF¨.
After I said this my grandma tried to soothe me and she said ¨God made you the way you are and you cannot change it so embrace it, love who you are because you are beautiful¨. These words changed me forever. After a very long talk, and many more after that I realized that I had nothing to hate about myself. My grandma was right, she helped me to be happy and live a better life no longer wearing a hoodie everywhere I went in order to feel safe and secure. It was not only just the hoodies, but she helped me to be confident and love myself.
My grandma showed me how beautiful I am inside and out. The most valuable lesson out of all of this though, is that inner beauty is what matters most. My grandma is a very wise woman who continues to teach me important things like this every day. Self-love is something that I practice every day. There are days when I want to go back to my ¨shell¨, but I remember the words¨God made you the way you are and you cannot change it so embrace it, and love who you are because you are beautiful¨
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