Whether it's every day, twice a week or once a year, every girl has looked in the mirror and knit picked at every single thing that she finds wrong with herself. Worse yet, we get together with our friends and cringe together, all the while trying to reassure each other of our flawless beauty. As harmless as this may seem, it's incredibly damaging to our already struggling self confidence. We are faced with pressure daily to look, act and be the best version of ourselves. And, unfortunately, we are our biggest critics.
So the question remains: in a world where insecurity is the norm, how do you break free from your negative thoughts and learn to unabashedly love and accept yourself?
First I will begin by saying that it's not easy and there is never a point where the process ends. Each day presents new challenges to our self image. We have bad hair days, sometimes we're bloated, our tan fades in the winter and our makeup smudges at the worst possible times. The reason that these little things bother us so much is because, when something goes wrong, it's all we think about It is important to realize, however, that those small things you pick yourself apart for will very rarely, if ever, be noticed by someone else. We are stuck in the perception that others think, criticize and judge us as much as we to ourselves. But stop and think... when is the last time you completely tore someone's image apart the way you do your own? Probably never the way that you do to yourself.
Feeling completely secure and confident with yourself will beam like sun rays in every step, smile and conversation that you encounter. This will not be an overnight process, but one day you will wake up and feel refreshed, happy and excited about who you are. Becoming confident is about discovering yourself and realizing that there are certain things that you can change and other things that you cannot. How beautiful you fell comes from the inside our. Always remember that your worth doesn't come from others' perception of you because the people that make quick, rude judgements probably aren't friend-worthy anyway.
So each day, whether you feel radiant or like a train wreck, take a moment. Take a moment to look in the mirror and appreciate yourself instead of knocking yourself down. As crazy as it sounds, saying three things out loud that you love about yourself each day has great long term advantage. Don't forget that your beauty is much more about what's inside than what you see in the mirror anyway. So take time to find your passions and build on those. Do something for yourself... buy the dress, say yes to something you've been saying no to for a while, eat healthy and go for a walk somewhere you've never been.
Insecurities are nothing to be ashamed of because we all have little things that come and go that we don't like about ourselves. Always remember not to dwell on the things that are holding you back, because everything has to get pulled back a little before the trigger is released. What you find when the arrow hits the target will be a revival of all the beautiful things that make you, you.
