How to Accept Your Own Looks

At 25, I Finally Realized I Had Never Truly Accepted My Own Face.

Growing up, I rarely looked in the mirror.

I never developed a clear sense of whether I was “good-looking” or not. Along the way, we’re handed so many external standards telling us how we should look.

Following society’s standards is the easiest route—but it erases the uniqueness we’re born with.
These facial and bodily features carry the traces of your family’s history, generation after generation. They are proof of your existence. In the grand scale of time, the fact that you carry this DNA and are alive at all is a quiet miracle.

This is why cosmetic surgery is never the real solution.

It is, at its core, a rejection of yourself. It never cures appearance anxiety, nor does it offer permanent peace of mind. What it does help is the beauty industry’s revenue—you suffer, others profit.

How to Start Accepting Your Natural Appearance

1. Look in the mirror.
Notice what you actually look like.

2. Write down the things you’re unhappy with.
Observe them closely. In what way do you think these features are “ugly”?
Most of the time, our dissatisfaction simply comes from not fitting the dominant beauty standards.

3. Write down your innate limitations—maybe poor eyesight, hearing issues, scars, or features inherited from your parents.
Forgive yourself. Feel compassion for yourself.
Then tell yourself you will learn to care for these parts with more intention.

4. Write down the features you do like.
Compliment yourself generously.

5. Tell yourself these things are all part of you.
From now on, you will no longer deny them.
Replace the old internal monologue with:
“Thank you for growing with me. You’re an inseparable part of who I am.
Thank you for making me different and allowing my uniqueness to show.
I no longer measure myself by external standards.
I am me. I am ________ (your name).”

Meanwhile, don’t give up on healthy, positive change.

Progress can be tiny: sleeping a bit more, standing a few minutes longer, taking a few extra steps, exercising, or doing your skincare.

From now on, anyone who comments negatively on your features—kick them out of your mental space.

No one has the right to judge your appearance. Only you have the authority to decide who you are, what you want, and how you grow.

Repeat these steps until they become second nature.

Take your time. No matter your age, it’s never too late.
And don’t blame yourself for not doing “enough.”
The moment you’re reading this, you’re already walking toward self-love.