Joanna Gaines is reflecting on what she's learned about self-acceptance as she's grown older.
While promoting her new children's book, "The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be," the best-selling author, who rose to fame while starring on HGTV's "Fixer Upper" with her husband, Chip Gaines, shared some words for her younger self.
"The older I get, the more I realize how much time I spent believing the lie that who I was wasn’t good enough," she wrote in a tweet on Wednesday, alongside a photo of her as a child. "I find myself fighting to get all of that time back—all of the moments I wasted hiding who I was by trying to be something I wasn’t."
MORE: Joanna Gaines shares her 'Silo Cookies' recipe from her new cookbook"So as I sit here now, with years of living and learning behind me, I want so badly to go back in time to that little girl—a little girl who happens to be half Korean and shy and a little bit self-conscious—to tell her that not only is she good enough, but she is extraordinary," she continued in a follow-up tweet.
The older I get, the more I realize how much time I spent believing the lie that who I was wasn’t good enough. I find myself fighting to get all of that time back—all of the moments I wasted hiding who I was by trying to be something I wasn’t. pic.twitter.com/ExnzFb7n1k
— Joanna Gaines (@joannagaines) November 12, 2020
Gaines said that she would tell that little girl "to be kind to herself because the world needs exactly who she was made to be." She encouraged her followers to embrace that same message of self-love.
"I hope you find the courage to embrace all that you are—all of your quirks, all of your beauty, all of your brilliance—because the world needs YOU," she wrote.
The author also shared a hilarious updated version of the throwback photo. "Not much has changed and I'll probably regret this photo but it's worth saying again kids... the world needs who you were made to be!" she captioned her post.
"The World Needs Who You Were Made to Be," released Tuesday, is Gaines' second children's book.
She previously said the book serves as "a reminder for kids and adults alike that no matter who you are, where you are from, or what your story is, the world needs YOU."
Gaines released her first children's book, "We Are the Gardeners" in 2019, and it became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller. She has also written two cookbooks, her best-selling 2018 book, "Magnolia Table," and its follow-up, "Magnolia Table, Volume 2," which she released in April.
