Confidence! - an essay

In today's world, beauty is everything. If you don't have the latest hairstyle or the cutest dress or the right cologne, you are worth next to nothing--you are not "beautiful."

But what is beauty, exactly? Is it that bronze-skinned, golden haired, strappy-bikini-wearing model on front of a glossy magazine? (If you don't look like her, are you ugly?) Is beauty a shirt from a high-end manufacturer with a $152 price tag? Or is beauty your smiling neighbor, your laughing mom, your best friend who always seems to know when you're blue and just how to make your day brighter?

Beauty is within each of us. No matter our age, our ethnicity, or the size of our pocket-book, beauty shines in our eyes. Those around you see it when you smile, when your laughter rings in the air, when you offer a kind word, and, even more importantly, when you are being yourself--you, the real you, the individual underneath it all.

We are all--every single one of us--unique. We all have talents, and though you may share many of these talents with others, no one has the exact same talents as you. We all have gifts--innate gifts. You may have a keen sense of the human heart, and therefore always know the right thing to say. You may empower people. Maybe you can easily make people laugh. You may have a gentle spirit, and unconsciously encourage people to be kinder. Your spirit may be fiery, and your ambition could give strength to your peers. The possibilities are endless, and whatever your gift may be, you have the ability to impact someone's life, even change the world.

You are a necessary piece in the puzzle that is the world. When you feel like just another member of the crowd, one of a million, remember that without you there would only be 999,999 members of that crowd. What if someone else decided they were worthless? There would only be 999,998. What if everyone decided they were worthless? Our world would be empty.

You must remember that without you--your smile, your laughter, your strength, your unequivocal capability to love--the world would be a duller, more repugnant place. Why? Because, what is beauty?

Beauty is you.