Pretty, witty, and gracious

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Being a female is hard, especially in today's society. Media constantly sets standards that society believes you should strive to reach including looks, body shape, careers, and everything else that you could think of. So many times you see beautiful woman struggling with body image issues, piling on makeup, wearing the least amount of clothes possible, and all over selling themselves short. Being a female is something that we should embrace! We are strong, beautiful, independent, confident, and have come such a far way in such a short amount of time! But, many times priorities become a bit flip flopped in the stress and expectations of daily life. Many times, we wake up earlier to make sure that we have time to do our hair, makeup, and pick out the perfect outfit. Being physically pretty is not the most important thing in life, and that often gets pushed aside and set on the back burner. Being internally beautiful is the real thing that all woman should strive for. External beauty will fade over time, but character will stick with you forever. Ideal traits that should be in forced into young woman are politeness, classiness, forgiving, truthful, confidence, happiness, and many others.

My advice? Wear that outfit that you think you can't pull off, try that new haircut (I promise it will grow out if you hate it), try that blue eye shadow, and when you are doing all of these things, be confident about it! Stop convincing yourself you can't wear certain things because you aren't a size [enter number here]. 

Go out of your way to smile at somebody, or simply say hello to a stranger walking by. Help that person who dropped their books, or hold a door open for somebody. It really is the simple things in life that make the most difference. Not only will it make them smile, I can guarantee that you will feel better about yourself and it just helps your confidence! People won't always remember what you were wearing or what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel. First impressions last a lifetime, so you may as well make a great one, right? 

Have a great week, and remember these tips in your everyday life. You never know when somebody will pay it forward and you may just start a chain reaction. 

Love Always, 

Abbey Rettinger

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