Becoming, YOU

Becoming, YOU

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Hi everyone! Today I wanted to post about something that means a lot to me which is (to be honest) kind of hard to post. It's confidence and how I dealt with it all.

I don't know where to begin, I was never the most confident person, well, on the inside. On the outside, I was told I have a lot of confidence. The thing is, not everything is based on what's on the outside. Outside I could be a happy and super confident person, but on the inside I had many insecurities and still do.

On the outside I acted as though I didn't care about what people thought of me and I only thought of what made me happy, which is partly true. This worked until I was made fun of my weight numerous times and had people come up to me and comment on my acne.

I was told that I was too skinny in middle school and that I was "thick" in high school. I was told to take being called "thick" as a compliment. I was also given many advices on how to get rid of my acne. People came up to me and would just comment on it not even giving me any advice. This hurt my confidence to the point where I didn't know what to do or who to believe. Being labeled as someone who is "too this" or "too that" or who "has this" is so wrong. Why do we need to be labeled? WE ARE PEOPLE NOT FOOD!!

In todays society, we have to live up to a certain standard. You HAVE to be this and HAVE this to be considered pretty or beautiful. By trying to live up to society you lose yourself in the flood of everyone being the same and you lose your spark.

It's hard to keep up with all of these trends and for the most part, it's for the better to stay away from them - juice cleanses (they stink and don't work), diets (pretty much starving yourself), acne tricks (it's all a shame), etc. - so many people try to be someone they're not.

Many celebrities who are in movies are WAY too thin. This affects how many young women and men    perceive themselves to be. These celebrities are their idols and they want to be like them, as strange as that sounds, it's true. We all want to be like someone we aren't. But why? I'm not a very religious person, but I do believe that God made us this way for a reason.

I have flipped through many magazines staring and wishing that I could look just like the models. I never accepted myself which I think is extremely hard to do. No, I'm obviously not perfect and yes, I have many flaws. Why can't we all accept our flaws and consider ourselves as beautiful? Why can't we find our flaws as being part of our beauty?

I say this and I try to accept my flaws and insecurities, but sometimes fail to do so. I try to walk with my head held high and say to myself - "I don't NEED to have a thigh gap to be perfect" or "you are beautiful in so many ways, don't listen to what other people think".

It is honestly and truly hard, but if you have the right mindset and surround yourself with the people you love and who love you back even more, I think you can do it.

You are beautiful and every bit of flaw you have is wonderful. People will try to bring you down, but don't let it because you are stronger than they are.


XOXOX
     Erin