I can’t say enough how much I love this video and the positive body image message it portrays. I love this message so, so much, but it has taken me years to internalize it. I think the change really broke through when I became a mom and I had to realize that the babe doesn’t see the makeup… he doesn’t see my size… he doesn’t realize yet how awkward I can be. And whether or when he finally does see those things someday will be greatly determined by whether or not I allow myself to just be myself, and whether I teach him it’s okay for him to do that as well.

Today I have an assignment for you. First, grab a mirror and take a look. What do you see? Wrinkles? Bags under your eyes? A new pimple forming? Reflect on this thought: “Do you like you?”

Now, watch this video and come back when you’re done. (I’ll wait.)

It’s pretty great, isn’t it? Those women in the video are beautiful. But I’m hoping you realized the same thing I did when I watched it: they’re beautiful because they like who they are, inside and out. They know their worth, and they’re not afraid to look in the mirror and see it. And in doing that something magical happens. They become a source of reflection for us and, in them, we see ourselves a little more beautifully.

Go back to the mirror (you knew this was coming, didn’t you?), what do you see? Those wrinkles signify you’ve lived. Those bags under your eyes, they’re a badge of honor that you’ve struggled and you’re still here. That pimple… well, you’ll have to get back to me on how a pimple can become a positive (you enjoyed those greasy chips with abandon?), but hopefully you get where I’m going with this. “Do you like you?”

Take your makeup off, let your hair down, take a breath, look into the mirror at yourself. Don’t you like you? Cause I like you.

Be good to yourself.

This post was appears on Witty & Bright.