Just because I suddenly have this self belief,

the belief that I won’t fail at life, that I am headed for something great,

Just because I have faith in Allah,

Doesn’t make me a pretentious bitch, it does not make me full of myself.

So you’re telling me it’s better for me to doubt every move I make? Every word I write?

You’re telling me it’s better for me to cry myself to sleep because I hate the way I look, and I’d rather be prettier, skinnier, better?

Really?

Just because I now think that I can change the world, that I will become published, that I will not let them bring me down,

Just because I now see the beauty of my religion, the beauty in myself, in the world,

It makes me full of myself?!

Just because I now have this self-respect, the right to say what I’m…