“ I finally realized that beauty was not a thing I could acquire or consume. It was something I just had to be. And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you.”
Lupita Nyong’o
When I was younger, the only thing I wanted was to look different. I didn’t want to be the Asian, the exotic one.
But I couldn’t pay for plastic surgery. I couldn’t dye my hair, and I didn’t know that colored contacts existed.
I just knew that I was different.
There weren’t people who looked like me in the mainstream media. I didn’t have any role models, save for figure skaters. It irked me when people said things that they loved a celebrity or they felt like they knew them personally.
We all know the media projects a certain image of people in the public eye. Yeah, that one heartthrob might sound like your Prince Charming on paper, but wouldn’t you rather find someone who loves you for who you are instead of who you are in the public eye?
Yeah, I thought so.
But then I realized that I didn’t have to know the celebrity. I liked the celebrity because I resonated with something in their essence. I didn’t need to grow up with them to do that.
Because the things qualities you admire in people are already in you.
Yes, you read that right.
I’m going to say this again.
You possess the qualities you admire in others.
So how do you start to feel like you can take over the world?
1. Ask yourself this ONE question: What qualities do I admire in (insert person’s name here)?
I don’t care who it is. It can be a friend, family member, or a celebrity. If the answers you’re coming up with are, “Because he/she seems nice,” or “Because he/she is talented,” dig deeper. What do you admire about them?
I’m not saying it’s bad to love a person because they seem nice or because they’re talented, but loving a person because of their talent and kindness doesn’t do much when it comes to making you feel like you can take over the world.
Take Jennifer Lawrence for example. (Yes, I am a fan.)
What do I love about Jennifer Lawrence?
I love the fact that she is refreshingly honest and candid for someone in the entertainment industry. She’s authentic.
Yes, I am one of the thousands of people out there that have gravitated toward that authenticity. Knowing that that I have the capacity somewhere inside me to release my inner J-Law makes me feel pretty darn awesome, if I do say so myself.
Knowing you have an inner celebrity (or whoever you admire) makes you feel pretty awesome huh?
2. Write These Qualities Down
According to The Positivity Blog, writing things down works. It lets you focus. And we all know that in this world where we live by going from screen to screen that our attention spans are….well, you know.
I mean, I don’t know about you, but I feel pretty invincible when I look at my list and know that I can pull out my inner Beyonce or inner J-Law when I feel like it.
And that satisfaction, that feeling of invincibility, is CRUCIAL to taking back your sense of self-worth. You can buy all the makeup and plastic surgery in the world, but inner beauty does more. Inner beauty “inflames the heart and enchants the soul…there is no shade in that beauty.”
Who do YOU like to channel that makes you feel like you can take over the world?
Alisa Yui 