The photo above is of Padma Lakshmi, the famous American actress, model, and TV host. On her right arm is a 7-inch scar (about 18 cm) from a serious car accident when she was 17, according to Wikipedia. Looking at the picture, you’ll see her smiling brightly, confidently showing off her figure with that scar on full display—no hiding, no shame, even with the whole world watching.

This piece was sparked by a question I saw on Quora from a girl. She asked something like, “What would you do if you felt no one would ever love you because of a terrifying scar on your body?” The top-voted answer came from a breast cancer survivor named Barbara Carleton:

“You want to talk scary scars? I lost both breasts to cancer. My chest is a web of scars. And that’s when I met the love of my life. He didn’t even care about it. You’re worth so much more than your outer shell, and the man who’s worth it knows that.”

The second-best answer, by Melissa Stroud, was from a woman missing a front tooth she couldn’t yet afford to fix. She used to hide her smile to cover that flaw. But it turns out it didn’t bug others nearly as much as she thought. She’s the one who brought up Padma Lakshmi, pointing out that a blemish on your body doesn’t change who you are.

Scars on the outside are the visible ones. They can show up anytime—while you’re out living, exploring, diving into life. I remember a friend telling me he likes phones with scratches. To him, it’s not always about a careless owner—maybe those marks came from some wild moment. Each scratch holds a story he’d love to uncover. “Flawless” stuff? Nothing to dig into there.

So if a scar dents your “perfect beauty” and you’re moping or fretting over it, that’s not worth the precious time you’ve got right now to soak up everything life’s throwing at you. Sure, people might gawk or raise an eyebrow at first, but once they’re used to it, no one cares—leaving you as the only one obsessing over your flaws, picking at them.

And isn’t it true, like that breast cancer survivor said, that a man who comes to you then is worth more? It’s not like you’ll stay flawless until you die anyway.