I'm on a mission.

Hi, my name is Bella. I'm on a mission to save the world, one person at a time. And you know what?

There is absolutely nothing you can do to stop me.

Okay, so my name isn't really Bella. But who cares? I don't want anyone to know my real name. I want this blog to be a secret from everyone. I want everyone who reads this to think they've never met me in their life. Anonymity means protection. And trust me, I've been hurt enough in my life that I'm not willing to chance it again.

I sat around for a long time trying to think of a pen name to use for this blog. Finally I remembered one word from my five years of study of the Spanish language - bella, which means "beautiful." I believe everyone is beautiful in their own special way. Even me. Although I beat myself up a lot and have horribly low self-esteem, after a little prodding and encouragement from my amazing, wonderful boyfriend, I thought it was high time I stood up to myself and said, "I'm beautiful and nothing can stop me."

So here I am, bella as ever.

I'm on a mission to save the world. That sounds crazy, right? Absolutely. But I'm not talking about curing cancer or AIDS or world hunger. Not at all. Don't get me wrong, those are amazing goals and I commend anyone who works to save the world in that way. But I'm not an idiot - that's far too much for one person.

No, my mission is to teach everyone in the world that they are worth something. I want everyone to know that they are bella. Not only do I believe that everyone is physically attractive in their own way, I believe that everyone has a beautiful inside. Not everyone shows it, and I want to help people realize that they don't have to be hateful and disgusting to one another.

Or to themselves.

It's a horrible thing, but people hate themselves. Not everyone does, but many people do, and I want to change that. I understand I can't change people. I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to be as positive as I can be so that I can make people think about the way they treat others and themselves. I want to present an alternative way of thinking - one that, when presented with a random person walking down the street, doesn't automatically make baseless accusations against him or her. "She's wearing a short skirt - she must be a hooker. He has tattoos - he must be bad news. She looks rather young to have a child - she must be an unwed teenage mother whose baby daddy ran out on her."

People make these accusations not because they hate the person they are judging, but because they hate themselves and they want to boost their self-esteem.

I want people to realize they don't have to think this way.

I'm not perfect either. I don't completely hate myself, no. I can look in the mirror and say, "Wow, I'm beautiful." I can look at a picture of myself on Facebook and think, "Hey, I look really good here!" But I think about my qualities and I go, "Wow, I'm boring. I'm not very smart either. I wish I could lose some weight."

I'm hoping that I can change my mind through this blogging experience too.

I'm making a promise to you guys right now. I promise to update often (maybe a little sporadically, as life interferes), and I promise to only post uplifting things that will change everyone's thinking for the better. I promise to never change this blog into the type of blogs I've had in the past - the kind where the person only complains about their life. That helps no one. There is a difference between venting and wallowing in self-pity, and I promise to never burden you guys with that kind of stupidity.

We're all in this together. I'll do my part to help you guys, and I can only hope that you'll return the favor.

I know we can do this if we stick together and love God, ourselves, and one another.

Let's get started.

~Bella