Believing in yourself is one of the hardest things to do. After all, most of us grow up with friends and family who have been believing in us and cheering us on so much that when we are left all alone to face life head-on, we somehow fall short in the belief and self-love department only to end up feeling devastated when we realize we are our own worst critic rather than our own number 1 cheerleader.

Recently, I realized that this theme of believing in ourselves and self-doubt has become extremely prevalent in my life as well as in the lives of other people around me. And one of the main reasons I was able to recognize this theme around me is because life seems to have a funny way of knocking people down. It almost happens in a sneaky way. Watching, waiting for you to walk confidently by, standing tall, only to stick its foot out and laugh when you fall flat on your face. Needless to say, life can leave us feeling like we have no control over what happens in our lives. In my own experience, this seems to become harder throughout college. Of course, I still believe that I can succeed, knowing that I have gotten where I am from my own hard work and dedication. However, there are still so many times when I find myself doubting my ability to succeed.

The idea of self-doubt can have so many people's heads spinning and thinking; "why am I doubting myself when the only thing that is standing in my way is the choice to believe in myself?” and the answer to that, my friends, had me shook. After months of not believing in myself, barely making it through my classes and unhealthy stress levels I realized that the only person I should be seeking approval from was myself because my own confidence in myself should be more than enough.

I came to the conclusion that no matter what anyone thinks, I will go chasing waterfalls. I will go chasing seemingly impossible dreams because life is short and I refuse to waste it belittling myself and my ability to succeed. I am choosing to believe in myself. I will continue to grow and learn from my failures and mistakes. I will be understanding of my fears and acknowledge that being afraid and nervous about an upcoming assignment or test and hesitant about pursuing a dream or goal means that I am doing it right. It means I actually have something that I am not willing to lose, It means I have something I care about, that I am invested in. And, I choose to recognize that the investment in ourselves is the first step in believing in ourselves. After all, we would have never begun to even think of investing in anything if there was not some part of us that believed we could do it.

So, go! Push past the discomfort and fear! Break old habits and make new ones! Learn valuable lessons and no matter how many times you fall, pick yourself up, try again and believe in yourself, even when no one else does.