There's an entire genre of films that are called 'coming of age' films, movies that detail the protagonists journey from a self-doubting teenager to a confident adult, often through great odds even if it doesn't seem that way to someone else. The biggest issue with our problems are that someone who has already gone through those issues thinks their opinion on how to solve this issue matters, when in reality it is your battle to fight. 

That's not to say you don't need advice, everyone needs advice, more often than not people are ready to give it for free, but that's not the point of this post, even though it's kinda going to be some form of advice. 

By this point, it's safe to say I've successfully confused you. 

But here's what I was going for. This is your time, considering the readership of this website is mostly students who are eventually going to conquer the world, I want you to know that it is okay to struggle in life, in fact, I encourage you to struggle, to want to be better than who you are meant to be. But all of that will only happen if you understand the fundamental fact that you need to truly and utterly love yourself.  

This concept might be confusing for some and for me, it is both self advice and a message to the younger kids in the crowd. I've hated myself since I was 17, it didn't go away until very recently and I still feel the scars that period of my life, a period that lasted longer than it should, affecting my daily life. There's so much I should have done a long time ago that I'm coming to terms with now, realising that I'll never have the same opportunity as before and I simply have to try harder and push harder than ever before. 

All of this I could have done earlier if I'd just learned to embrace myself for who I was and fight for my goals. 

So this is my advice to you folks this Valentine's Day, learn to love yourself if you don't already. Not only will you discover what you are capable of, you will find that once you are secure in your self-love, you are confident enough to spread it around and make people around you happy. That is what is expected from a citizen of India, because frankly we have too much negativity already, enough to go around for a few decades at least. 

In a country where negativity is the norm, being a positive self loving person is the greatest act of rebellion one can make. Own it.