Am I Beautiful?

By Aastha Kapoor

I ask this question too often from a lot of people including family and friends not because I need an answer but to get an idea of the concept of being beautiful as perceived by people around. Why? Because I wish to see some positive change in people’s perceptions from all the female activism around the world, from the emerging voices of women, from the ‘dark is beautiful’ advertisements and from many enthusiastic feminist 

bloggers writings.

There is a multitude of answers I get; my mom always replies with a yes, some close friends usually reply with “how does it matter?” while the answer I want to hear and is a treat to get from some people is “You and only you can answer that question” because irrespective of what others tell me the image I accept is the one I think I deserve. If donning the prettiest of dresses and your sharp nose, round eyes, rosy lips, long hair are my defining parameters, I will have to change my answer every other day because I know for a fact that I will never be young forever, my looks will change quickly before I know myself.. However the answer to this question shouldn’t change, right? So, how do you answer such question? It is pretty easy actually. You decide the attributes that define the word ‘Beautiful’ to you-how do you treat yourself, do you keep saying comforting things to yourself to keep you going through hard times, are you a self-motivated, happy and cheerful person, do you teach yourself new skills every day , the ones you want to be proficient at and do you feel comfortable in your own skin even when nobody is around? Do you dream big and try to work towards them to not just let them stay dreams, with all resources that you have got? Can you speak your mind and not be afraid of wrongful people. Also, do you occasionally buy yourself a chocolate? If you answer ‘yes’ to these questions, you are the most beautiful girl I know of. When you love yourself, you can also critic yourself honestly, understand your opinions and emotions better, improve and lead a meaningful life. Being beautiful is a process that is driven by your own mindset and each one of us have it within us to understand it and feel beautiful.

source:weheartit.com