I will never be the pretty girl.

I have long made peace with the fact that I am not the kind who will turn heads, or who will look photogenic in every angle. I don't have a perfect pointed nose or smooth skin. I'm not the kind of person who would get a hundred likes on every single selfie I upload on the Internet.

This isn't an article on insecurities and overcoming them. This is an article on acceptance of the truth: I am not the pretty girl. And that's okay.

Because pretty is temporary, because pretty isn't a necessity, pretty is merely a bonus given to the winners of the genetic lottery.

There are days when I would stare at my reflection and pinpoint my flaws. Sometimes, I catch myself Googling solutions for my skin blemishes. And although staying healthy isn't bad at all, getting too worked up on how I look is something that I want to avoid. But it happens, still.

Because there would be girls whose selfies may look perfect for magazine covers, and then there's me—the not-so pretty girl.

If you think otherwise, then thank you very much. But let's cut the flattery and let's be honest. It is totally okay for me, because I realized something: pretty isn't all that.

There are perks to not being that pretty. For one thing, I'm pretty sure now that the people who talk to me are actually interested in me and not just my face. More than that, I won't be judged entirely on how I look. People won't think too negatively when I don't look that pretty. I mean, I probably look that way on a daily basis, anyway.

And I choose not to rely my pride, dignity, and identity on something that can crack so easily. On something attached to my flesh and something terribly temporary. I am not going to rely my happiness on my face–it can get pimples and it can get scarred. So instead, I'm just going to accept the fact that I am not going to be the pretty girl.

I'm going to be the smart girl, the passionate girl, the go-getter girl, the happy girl, the smiling face, the bright-eyed, the brave, and the beautiful.

I am not the pretty girl.

I am so much more than that.

(c) candymag