Hey Beautiful ;)

Andy[my boyfriend]: You look so cute today!

Me: You're just saying that cause you have too.

This happens all of the time. Literally allllll of the time.

When a stranger gives me a compliment it seriously makes my whole entire day. It boosts my self-esteem. I feel good, pretty, and confident. It puts a huge smile on my face.

But when Andy, my family, or friends give me a compliment of some sort it honestly doesn't mean much to me. They love and care about me so much, so of course they think that. It'd be kind of weird if they didn't. I'd be a little offended if my parents didn't think I was the prettiest princess of all the lands [along with my sisters]. And I'd be really upset if my boyfriend didn't find me even slightly attractive. That is just the way it is supposed to be. They are kind of obligated to feel that way, aren't they? My parents wouldn't be oddballs if they didn't. My boyfriend would be a weirdo if he had a girlfriend that he wasn't attracted to. They kind of have to think you're cute. 

Strangers don't have too. They don't have the obligation. They can think whatever the heck they want about me. Cute, ugly, fat, skinny, pretty...they get to pick. And I think that is why it fuels my confidence when someone that doesn't have to think you're attractive, but does. And it means it. Genuinely means it. 

I don't get compliments on a regular basis. It's usually more of a once in a blue moon kind of thing.

But then I think about the compliments I do receive from my loved ones. Those are constant. A practically everyday occurrence. I wonder what it would feel like if they stopped. 

And then I realized...

Since when did some random guy's compliment mean more to me than the compliments that the man I fell in love with gives me? How does that even make sense? Since when did his compliments become not enough? Since when did the way my parents view me become unimportant and meaningless? Those are the ones I would be lost without. If my parents didn't remind me just how beautiful they think I am then I wouldn't ever think I was. If Andy didn't tell me how pretty I am to him then I would think I wasn't.

Our loved ones mean the most to us. They tell us the raw, dirty things we don't want to hear. They are honest - right down to the bare truth. They make us stronger, better people. And they think we are absolutely beautiful. It's about time we start believing them.