An Open Letter To Girls Like Me

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You can make it. It might seem like it’ll take forever. Somedays you’ll fall. But you can get back up again. If you can’t get the words out of your mouth, write them on paper until it screams for you. If you feel alone in the dark, remember you have the light of your Savior to brighten the path.


  I get it. If you’re anything like me at all, you’re sometimes the girl who avoids the spotlight, but wants to be noticed so badly. The girl who wants to see everyone smile, but it’s not always easy to do so yourself all the time. The girl who hopes the people she care about get exactly what they’ve prayed for, even if she doesn’t get it all the time. The girl who sometimes doesn’t always feel like being nice to everyone, sometimes she wants to hurt them back. The girl who still hasn’t learned to stop caring what people think. The girl who isn’t sure how to deal with failure, because it’s bound to happen. Some days it feels great right? It feels like life is charmed, and what could possibly go wrong? But then there are the days you wonder if you matter at all. You do. You matter so very much. Trust me, you’ll turn out great. Keep smiling.

   But don’t forget that it’s OK not to every once in awhile. If you need to cry, do it. It’s okay to scream a little bit now and then, it’s okay not to be perfect. Be careful with your heart, it’s easy to give it up completely, and it might come back with a crack in it one day. There’s probably someone you want to give your heart to. Go slowly. Make sure they’re worth your heart, princess of the Living God. Even if they aren’t, keep loving as fiercely as always. 

     Look at your friends and family. They’re not perfect either. They might all be crazy, have broken pieces or be hurting in some way. You love them. They make life better. They have their wonderful comforting sides that remind you God is with you to fight the darkness that tries to overwhelm you in this world.  They seem so perfect to the outside world, don’t they? Professionally put together? The idea probably makes you crack up, because you’ve seen them at their ugliest, you’ve seen the fights, the cries and the crazy. Don’t let them go. You try and make their lives better too, and sometimes you go too far, you drive them nuts. But don’t feel bad, if they’re meant to be there, they’ll stay.

   Go look in a mirror. Right now. You heard me-go. Smile. Be serious. Make a silly face, an angry one, a sad one. Make eye contact with yourself. Now-say this.

      ‘You are a beautiful, amazing, one-of-a-kind, perfect creation.’

   Did you hesitate? I know I did. And...that hurts. Looking in the mirror, you probably see something you like. But you also see things you don’t, and for some reason, those things seem to be the ones that stand out. And you’ve probably heard the whole ‘love yourself’ speech. So I won’t give it to you. Instead-I’ll give it to you from a different side.

     Go ahead. Look in the mirror and say-
           ‘I don’t like something about you. In fact I would probably redraw you if I could.’
That probably came out easier. But it hurt more, didn’t it? Now try saying this.
‘No. I don’t like everything I see in the mirror. But I do like me overall, and that includes the ugly parts. The parts I wish weren’t there, but my Maker decided I needed. So, I’m going to look in the mirror, and be okay with who I am. Because I can’t change it.’
      You are you. Good, bad and the ugly. There’s no changing it. So instead of zeroing in on the ugly, take a step back and understand-the big picture does look beautiful. No one ever points out the one flaw in a masterpiece. They just take a step back and admire the work. And the Artist who built you, the Creator of our world? He thinks you’re perfect too.

   So, girl-who-is-like-me, I wrote this to tell you that you aren’t alone. We’re all in this at the same time. My own struggles make me think of all the others out there like me. How many of us don’t even have God’s comfort to help us through this? My blood boils at the thought of it. I’m not sure if we’ll ever be rid of these insecurities and fears. But we have something to thank them for. They taught us how to fight. They told us to silence our opinions? We’ve learned to stand on a chair and shout them for the whole world to hear. One of my opinions is this whole letter. That we’re worth it. That things are complicated but it’s a complicated, beautiful chaos. So I’ll keep shouting. Someone has to listen eventually.
     -Kit



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