be-YOU-tiful

This blog has been created to reach out to other teenagers. We want you to know that you are not alone in the world. You are beautiful. You mean the world to all of us. You should always remember that. There is no reason to look at yourself in the mirror and be displeased with what you see. There is no reason to change you. You do not need all of the make up, perfume, plastic surgery, and designer clothes. There is no one that should tell you who to be. You are you and you are beautiful.

God created each one of us in his own image. I know at times it's difficult to remember that, but you were created this way for a reason. As teenagers our bodies are not fully developed and neither are our minds. This is the time to shape them into the beautiful and wonderful individuals we were created to be. Just as the Bible says, "Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12)
God gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to choose their fate. They choose to disobey God and eat from the tree of knowledge. After this, they became ashamed. They were ashamed because they disobeyed God and because they finally saw their nakedness. They were naked to the truth. God gives us the same fate. He gives us the opportunity to live our lives here on Earth. With His light to guide us we will live happily. God tells us to love others, and to especially love ourselves; "Whoever gets sense loves his own soul;he who keeps understanding will discover good." (Proverbs 19:8)

So we are talking to you, teenagers of the world. This is all for you. We want you to know that you are beautiful the way you are. You should embrace your natural selves and not be ashamed of who you are. God has a special plan in store for you, and someday soon your light will finally be able to shine.

-Amanda Cilli

Different Thoughts

Just now by sitting in my computer chair I started thinking why is being a teenager so hard. Why does everything feel like the end of the world. There are so many pressures left and right. One pressure that is stressed in our generation is dating. Dating is the most terrifying thing a teenager can do! You may be reading this and feel like it is not but when you think about it, it is scary. Dating is not just about have emotional feelings for a significant others but it involves how we view ourselves. Sometimes when we like someone we want to change for them and become a person that they will actually like. Why do we do that? Why do we change ourselves to fit into the “type” of person a significant other wants?  Everyone does it if you think about it. Girls dress a certain way around guys so that they will be liked or they pretend to be interested in the same things as the guys sometimes. Changing ourselves is not the right thing to do.

            Instead of changing ourselves we should embrace our true personalities and show that significant other the real us, not a superficial version. We should wash off all the makeup and take off all the fancy clothes and be comfortable and be able to be liked by whoever we like. Being ourselves is the best thing. God gave us all different personalities for a reason and characteristics to be able to be different individuals. So next time you go on a date remember impress your date by just being yourself with your personality and great characteristics that God gave you.

Negative Self-Image vs. Positive Self-Image

The self-image we as teenagers have of ourselves can be life-altering. The years we live as teenagers are ultimately the years which shape our personalities. The picture we have of ourselves can affect every and any aspect of our lives, such as the kind of friends we keep, the choices we make, and the successes we have in school and in work. Chances are, if we develop a negative self-image, we will not be successful throughout our lives. In order to have a truly fulfilling life, we as teenagers need to develop a positive self-image within our teenage years.

If we as teenagers have a negative self-image, it could lead to damaging behaviors such as unprotected sex, the abuse of alcohol and drugs. These behaviors would be a coping mechanism towards our lack of confidence. Teenagers with negative self-image do not believe in themselves and feel as if they are not of any value. This belief could affect the rest of their lives. A highly negative consequence of negative self-image could be suicidal thoughts and actions. If a teenager feels worthless, unwanted and alone, they might be led into the decision to take their own lives.

Teenagers usually develop a negative self-image of themselves if they are unsuccessful in school, are bullied, and are not given enough attention by their parents. Although they might be loved, they might feel as if they do not have enough friends, or as if they have the wrong type of friends. When bullied in school, they might feel as outcasts; which could lead them into abusing drugs as an escape.

If you are one of these teenagers, you need to realize that you are beautiful. You are worth the world to someone, and your life is never worth taking. God created you the way you are, with no mistakes.

All of us go through tough times in our lives, but there is nothing we cannot overcome. Everything happens for a reason. Once you overcome the bad, it will only lead to good.

Teenagers need to develop a strongly positive self-image of themselves in order to live truly fulfilling as well as successful lives. If teenagers have a positive self-image of themselves, they can strive to be the best they can be. They will have the confidence that will take them far in life, and they will never give up.

The self-image we as teenagers have of ourselves can be life-altering. If positive, we could live a very successful, happy and fulfilling life. However, if negative, we could fall apart and not be able to put ourselves back together.

-According to http://www.jaredstory.com/teen_epidemic.html, 500,000 teenagers try to kill themselves each year, and about 500 succeed.

-Suicide is the third leading cause of death in those fifteen to twenty-five years of age.

-Every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a teenager commits suicide. That means, that while you were reading this blog, two-three teenagers committed suicide.

Do not be a part of these statistics. Do not lead others into being apart of them either. No one deserves to take his or her life. We are all God’s children, we are all beautiful. 

What does it mean to be beautiful?

This is Carly Ned. She is a teenager girl who I follow on a separate blogging site. From the first time that I watched this video I was instantly moved emotionally. Carly is a teenager, just like myself and a good portion of the world. She's going through everything we are, and she has the guts to step up and speak out against all the wrong in teenagers self-view. Teenagers smile on the outside, but on the inside we're sad. Why is this? This is because of the lack of confidence. Teenagers do things to their body to change their self image when in reality, we are all amazing just the way we are. Life is hard and things hold but there's always a reason to push forward.

I recommend watching this video to have a further understanding of what I'm talking about. Carly created created this message to reach out to other teenagers to help them know they are not alone.
- Amanda Cilli

Strive For Perfection

Is it me or is society pressuring us teenagers to look a certain way or to act a certain way? Living in the twenty first century is an advantage and all but there are many downfalls and one of them is pressuring the youth to strive to be something they are not.  All advertising ads or commercials and magazines promote this unrealistic image to male and female youth. They put these ads out there so we feel the need to look like the person in the advertisement. For example they try to convince us that we have to look like Kim Kardashian or Taylor Swift.

                In fact about half of the teenage population in the United States will say they look up to a celebrity, rapper, and athletes to look like. Besides advertisements wanting us to feel the need to look and feel and act a certain way, there are other products out there marketing imperfections in our body. Plastic surgery is one way to get rid of these so called imperfections we have, or make us look like the certain celebrity we admire. I don’t understand why all this advertisements promotes imperfections. Instead of promoting imperfections and making us want to look like other celebrities they should be promoting natural beauty.

                Natural beauty and feeling secure in our own skin is the most empowering feeling a teenager could feel. I say this because I am a teenager. I’m a seventeen year old girl who sometimes struggles with imperfections but I do not listen to what advertisements and everyone else wants me to look like. I feel confident in my own skin, the one God created me in. Lastly to whoever is reading this blog at this very moment I encourage you to lift your head up high and say to yourself right now I’m beautiful and no one could tell me otherwise.  

   By Katie Cardoza

Teenage Self-View

I'm too fat.

I'm too skinny.

I'm not smart enough.              

My hair is too curly.

My hair is too straight. 

My nose is too big.
I'm not talented.

I need bigger muscles.            

I'm not good enough.

These are only a few of the statements we as teenagers make, if not about ourselves, than about others. We are in a constant battle with ourselves to look better, and act better based on a societal norm. We force ourselves and each other to look like people on television and billboards, when in reality, they themselves do not even look like that. Everyday, we get up, do our hair, makeup, spray on expensive cologne or perfume, and get into our designer clothes. Why?

Because if we did not, than we would be looked upon differently. We would not be respected, nor would we be liked.

However, if we all took the time to really think about this, we would all come to the same realization. We are making each other do this; we are the cause for each other’s suffering.

We all have imperfections and therefore, we all try to hide them. However, we do this in negative ways; we take it out on others. If we think we are too fat, we make fun of someone fatter. If our nose is big, we make fun of someone whose nose is even bigger. We make ourselves feel better by making others feel worse. But what does this really do?

It leads us into anorexia, bulimia, and plastic surgery.

   


So why pay attention to others imperfections? When everyone has so many beautiful things about them. And more importantly, why should we be so hard on ourselves about being too skinny, fat, with no muscles and a big nose? Why should we care about other people’s opinions? Because they won’t like us? Because they will not respect us?

If someone does not respect you because you do not fit into their picture perfect image, then they do not deserve to be respected by you; they do not deserve to be your friends. 

Be friends with people who will love you for you, not for what you look like. 

God created all of us, and he makes no mistakes. We are all beautiful. 




Be the cure to anorexia, not the cause:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlUjS7ZTts4&feature=related


-Veronica Ozog