Your scars are not beautiful. But you are beautiful with them.
You were beautiful without them, but you have a new kind of beauty with them, because they speak of how much you have overcome.
They are your body, saying, "I deserve more than hatred."
They are your body, saying, "I am worthy of better than abuse."
They are your body, saying, "I am stronger than that, because I know how precious I am, and I will not give in."
They are your body, saying, "Though you cut me, though you burn me, though you beat me, I will not leave the wounds open. I will begin healing the pain." For that is what a scar is.
You would not have a scar if there was no healing.
So they are your reminders. But they should not cause you guilt.
Indeed, you can take pride in them, because your body did not surrender, even when you hated it.
And they can remind you that you survived even that. That is real strength.
They can remind you what you were good enough to fight through, what you were worthy enough to surpass, what you are wise enough to look back on and say, "That was a hard road."
They are evidence of the journey of growth.
So your scars are not beautiful, but they are a part of you. They are a part that should not be forgotten, because it does not need to be.
They are the part of you that says, "I will fight.
Though everything, even myself, is against me, I will fight."
And they are proof that you have won before.
So why would you think you could not win again?
Be confident, because your scars are pieces of you that shout, "I will overcome."
They shout, "I am worthy to be loved."
And sometimes the hateful part of you distorts their message, because it does not want to hear the truth, and it says, "They speak of your failure. Of your weakness. Of your foolishness and unworthiness, of how you missed the mark, of how you were defeated."
Do not listen to the hateful part of you. It is what made those scars, and it told you the same lies from before it had done so.
Listen to what your body says.
Your body says, "I am perfectly and wonderfully made," even if your mind does not believe it.
When you doubt, look at your scars.
And hear them say, "I have healed. I can heal from this too," whatever it may be.
You will overcome.
Your heart knows it.
So it gave you scars.
Do not hate them. For they are not beautiful,
But you are.