By the age of 20, not many of us have really figured much out about life. Yet still, there's an increasing pressure to work out what the heck you want to do with yourself, which might very well take its toll on your self-confidence. But for singer Mahalia, who turned 20 a couple of months ago, things seem to be very much okay.
The British singer was signed by a major label when she was just in her early teens, and she's now an up-and-coming musician - with a pretty big fan base - who's set to do great things. But while Mahalia may look like she's got it all together, she recently opened up on Twitter and Instagram to share a raw message about confidence and body-positivity, admitting that she's often struggled with accepting herself.
She accompanied the message with a picture of her in a red bathing suit, posing on the beach while on holiday.
"I'll be honest, I've never been one to ever talk about body confidence. Mostly because truthfully, I was never truly confident with my body. And as someone who trusts so much in transparency, I didn't feel comfortable speaking on an issue in a dishonest way. I never thought I would... But, here I am lol.
"This is me trying to tell you over a screen to love yourself. Every aspect of yourself. Your physical. Your mental. Your spiritual.
"For the first time ever, I think I am seeing myself differently. Instead of looking at this photo and thinking about everything wrong with the physical, I'm trying to see the beauty in it.
"I see a woman. I see melanin. I see strength. I see health and with that, I see privilege. I see curves. I see happiness and I see pain. I see a future wife. I see a future mother.
"The point is, we are built up of more than our f*cking thighs and tummy's. I'm working on my confidence. And I think what I'm saying in this is that it's important that you work on yours, too. Okay, love you. M".
Her message is so inspiring because she really opens up about her own insecurities, admitting that she's still working on her confidence. She says this kind of honesty is also incredibly important when it comes to writing her music.
"I'd like to think that I'm quite an open person and I've always tried to be as honest as I can," she previously told i-D. "I think that's so important when I'm writing."
Fans loved her message and left a bunch of comments on the post.
The young singer has a promising career ahead of her, which isn't surprising given she wrote her first song when she was only eight years old. Her talents were spotted when she got signed by a major label deal at 13, and things are really starting to take off for the young talent now that she's finished school.
Good on her for always staying true to herself and being such a positive influence in the world.
