A lot of teens are pressured to look one way or another or to be tall or skinny or have your teeth or eyes or face or hair look how other people want them to look rather than how you want yourself to look or feel. A big thing that teens often forget about in the midst of all that is personal hygiene. 

No matter how you want to look you can’t forget that your health is just as or more important than if you fit the online criteria for “hot” the online version of how you should look or act changes everyday, you shouldn’t starve yourself just to look skinny because at this point the online criteria for skinny changes constantly. Don’t sacrifice your health for social media. 

The same could go for your sleep schedule. A healthy amount of sleep is roughly 6 to 8 hours of sleep every night because when you are asleep that’s when your body takes time to heal and mend itself. Don’t stay up late on your phone or the tv because the show is “too good to turn off”. I honestly have fallen into a bad habit of staying up late to play games so it’s something we as persons have to actively work on and try to improve and build healthier and happier habits. 

I think another part of personal hygiene is also your mental state. Life is a lot of pressure to be one way or another but don’t fall into putting yourself down because you don’t look like the model on your phone or the body builder on the tv. 

It’s good to have goals and dreams but also everyone has their own body type and a different opinion of what’s healthy and what isn’t.

 Make sure not to lose track of who you are and above all treat yourself just as kindly as you would your best friend.  

For the sake of your body, mind and strength don’t forget to keep your body and mind clean and healthy. I’m not saying you have to shower three times a day or brush your teeth every five minutes (although at least try to brush your teeth once or twice a day so they don’t fall out of your head)  or eat only salad for every meal because your body needs proteins and other things that you don’t find in leaves but you should be careful to put your personal health above online criteria.

 Before taking the words of other people to heart ask yourself “is this something that will improve my mind and body or will this only cause me trouble?”

Thanks for reading and don’t forget to love and care for yourself properly.