Don't get discouraged with your skin when it doesn't do what you

Hear the words of SZA, spoken with tenderness yet bearing the weight of truth: “Don’t get discouraged with your skin when it doesn’t do what you want it to do… Give it some time. That’s the only way to get to know yourself.” These words, though soft in tone, are powerful in meaning. For they remind us that the journey to peace with oneself is not swift, nor without struggle. The skin, that outer garment of the soul, is often the first battlefield where insecurity, doubt, and longing for perfection take root. But patience, not despair, is the path to harmony.

The ancients too knew that the body and the spirit are not separate, but woven together. They taught that to scorn one’s appearance is to wound the soul, and to despise the vessel is to dishonor the life within it. SZA’s words echo this timeless wisdom: to reject your skin when it falters is to reject part of yourself. To accept it, to give it time, to learn its seasons and changes, is to begin the greater journey of self-understanding.

Consider the tale of Frida Kahlo, whose body was marked with pain, scars, and struggle. Many would have hidden away in bitterness. Yet Frida chose another path. She painted her own image again and again—not in denial of her wounds, but in fierce acceptance of them. In her art, she declared that beauty is not the absence of imperfection, but the courage to embrace it. Through her patience with herself, she transformed her suffering into power, her skin into a canvas of resilience.

So too SZA speaks not only of the surface, but of the deeper truth. For what is the skin but the mirror of the self, the fragile covering that carries our story? To learn to love it in times of struggle is to learn to love the whole of who we are. To give it time is to give ourselves compassion, to trust that healing comes slowly, and that understanding is born not in haste, but in patience.

But beware, O seekers of wisdom, of the enemy called discouragement. It whispers that you are less because you do not look as you wish. It blinds you to the truth that your worth is not in the flawless image, but in the journey of self-discovery. Those who surrender to discouragement lose not only peace with their skin, but peace with their soul.

The lesson is clear: give yourself grace. When the reflection in the mirror troubles you, do not turn away in shame—look upon it with patience, with gentleness. Say, “This too is me, and I will learn to know it.” For in time, you will see not only imperfection, but strength, resilience, and the story of your becoming. In this way, the struggle with your skin becomes the doorway to a deeper knowing of yourself.

Practical steps lie before you: practice patience, practice kindness toward yourself. Do not seek quick fixes or despair when change comes slowly. Care for your body as a sacred vessel, but also care for your spirit. Write down what you admire in yourself beyond your appearance. Serve others, for kindness to others heals the way you see yourself. Above all, give it time, for time is the great teacher of self-love.

Therefore, let SZA’s words be etched in your heart: “Don’t get discouraged… Give it some time. That’s the only way to get to know yourself.” In patience you will find peace, in compassion you will find strength, and in time you will discover the radiant truth: you are far more than your reflection, and your worth cannot be measured by the surface of your skin.