Hi!Im Rachel,Im from South Africa,Mpumalanga!and i am currently a finalist in the Miss teen Glam South Africa competition.
Since i can remember my mother has tought me to love myself.Telling me im beautiful everyday and making me repeat it in the mirror.She still has a photo of me kissing myself in the mirror when i was a little girl.She has truley made me the confident strong young woman i am today.I am a strong believer in self love and confidence.
We all have insecurities,flaws,imperfections...and i know how hard it is to look in the mirror and not liking what you see,even though my mother raised me and tought me to love myself,it doesnt always come naturally,I am still only a human being.And its normal to not always feel your best.I have struggled with insecurities just like any other girl in the world.I used to be bullied in school about some of my biggest insecurities.My nose,my forehead,MY SKIN. You name it!I never felt good enough.But i realized that all these things every mean,rude and cruel things people have ever said to me,THEIR ALL LIES.This venom flowing from their mouths,it was all rooted from their own insecurities,not truth.IT DIDNT DEFINE ME.IT WAS LIES FROM THE DEVIL!

I am fearfully and wonderfully made in Gods image!He says that i am more precious than rubies,worth more than jewels!So how can i believe these lies of man and envious teenage girls if the king above all kings calls me beautiful,loved,cherished and more precious than JEWELS!Isn't that crazy!
We put ourselves into this tight stuck up box to try and fit in,to try and be what people want us to be,we try to mold ourselves into unrealistic standards to try and be something we're not for social acceptance?Society has become a place where you'll never be good enough.With trends and fashion and beauty standards changing so often,how do you expect to ever keep up?

Self love is a choice!A choice YOU have to make.You have to wake up everyday and choose to love yourself.You have to make the decision to believe in yourself and to believe that you are good enough,that you are loved,that you are wanted and that you are beautiful!and its not always an easy choice with todays beauty standards and unrealistic expectations of what beauty is and what it should look like.Beauty comes in all shapes and forms and sizes and you have to realize that you are apart of it!You are beautiful and you are enough,start believing it!