Standing in front of the mirror is something everyone does. Some people stand there happy with the reflection they see while others criticize their image, mentally altering themselves because their thighs touch, or they don’t fit into society’s mold of perfection and beauty. Why do we belittle ourselves instead of building ourselves up? Why do girls and women plaster makeup all over their already gorgeous faces? Confidence and insecurities are the answers.
We live in a world where unrealistic, altered images of women are posted on magazines, billboards, television, and so many other places we see on a day to day basis. Because these unnatural images appear so frequently in everyday life people begin comparing themselves to this idea of the “ideal” person, and they, we begin to believe ourselves not good enough or flawed. Why do we compare ourselves to the computer altered women? In reality nobody is perfect; everyone has flaws, but they make you unique, beautiful, you. Most people put on makeup or buy new clothes while others go through extreme methods like skipping meals or surgically altering their figure to achieve this “ideal”, flawless body, but when did we decide that who we are isn’t good enough?
Confidence is something that can make or break someone, and it too can also be made or broken with a few words or a few thoughts. Anyone can make a difference in whether someone feels confident. Build your peers up instead of tearing them down. You might find that in the process of helping someone else you actually help yourself.
To some people confidence means not caring what others have to say about who they are, but to me it means having self-esteem and knowing that who you are is good enough. It’s difficult to push past your insecurities, past what society believes to be perfect in order to have confidence in yourself. Overcoming the judgement and the high, unreachable standards set by society is the easy part; overcoming what you think of yourself is the hard part. You have to block out the negative comments made by the insecure bullies that plague the streets even though it can seem impossible at times. You can’t let them chip away at your confidence because if you do you’ll slowly start to lose who you are. Confidence doesn’t fully make a person, but it helps that person be themselves out in the world instead of hiding who they truly are behind makes that please society.
I like so many other women and girls have felt the pressures of society. I’ve been torn down, but I’ve built myself back up with the help of my friends. I’m finally confident, and it feels incredible to not have to second guess myself at every turn. It may be a difficult road to accept you flaws as a beautiful extension of you, but when you do it’ll feel like a weight has been lifted off of your chest. Be confident and burn your insecurities. Let their ashes drift into distant memories because they aren’t who you are. They don’t define you. You define yourself.
