When K. Lee Graham first started competing in beauty pageants at 14, she felt pressure to style her hair perfectly and look like the fittest Victoria's Secret model.
It seemed like a winning strategy.
"I was chasing after physical ideals that I thought people would consider beautiful," she says. "At that point, I was the most miserable I’ve ever been."
Worse, Graham kept losing.
She realized it didn't matter if she looked the part. Claiming the crown, she noticed, required an intangible quality: radiating joy that came from self-acceptance.
"That taught me to stay true to myself and not compromise," she says. "You don’t have to love me, but I am who I am." Read more...
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Source: Mashable http://ift.tt/1L8ff2L
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