You're probably thinking right now, is she serious? I am. I'll be as real as real gets with this one. I struggle with my self confidence, but for years I wouldn't have wanted a soul to know. I am not writing for a pitty party. You, your best friend, daughter, sister, or girlfriend just may feel the same as me... That's why I'm writing. So keep reading!
Social media steals confidence right from the hands of naturally beautiful girls. Then, it turns right around and fuels its own fire. Every single day, I scroll, scroll, scroll, down through Instagram. Selfie after selfie appear. Most of the time the same girls post these selfies. I see their 100+ likes, comments with about ten fire emojis, and a few "you're so pretty" "nooo girl, you're so pretty" conversations. I keep on scrolling and soon enough find myself at the end of new posts, and often feel a slight pang of jealousy.
I think I'll post a selfie. I tell myself, the next time I feel really truly good about myself I will post one. I fix my hair, put on a cute outfit, and try to perfect my makeup. The girl in the mirror gives me the go ahead. I take a selfie, but I don't like it. So I take another and soon twenty more. Still none I like. None I feel are worthy of social media, not even with a fancy filter. The day passes and I feel confident while I'm out and about, but I still don't post the selfie. I won't post one tomorrow either, or the next day, or ever at this rate.
On December 9th, I got pissed off. Not at anyone but myself. I had to give a speech that day, so I wanted to look extra nice. I woke up early to curl my hair, do my makeup, and pick out a nice outfit. I teased my hair and put on my fur vest (Texas style), snapped a quick selfie, and headed to class. Well, the vest only made it to the parking lot before it spent the day on the passengers seat of my car. When I got back to my car, saw my beloved fur vest in a ball on the seat, I was angry. I let just the mere thought of others' opinions talk me out of wearing an outfit I loved...
This war with myself had to end. My brain sang the lyrics to Miranda Lambert's song, Bathroom Sink, loud and clear as I gathered up the courage to post that selfie.
The whole point is, I faked courage and confidence for far too long. My mom always said, "fake it 'til you make it", and damn it, it was my time to make it. But it's not just my time, it's your time too.
So here's the deal:
- Take care of yourself
- Love who you are
- Post the freaking selfie, if that's what will make you happy
- Compliment others generously &
- Don't believe all you see on social media (everyone has access to makeup tutorials and photoshop these days)
It takes time and I'm working on it too. This blog post weighed on my mind for two weeks now... You may think, what a trivial post; maybe to you it is. However, as a millennial striving to brand myself and my blog with the help of social media, I can't let it win the battle over my self confidence. We need to stop comparing ourselves to others, stop letting likes determine our self worth, and stop allowing social media and the opinions of others control our happiness.
"Glamour at it's finest just means someone's hiding from their own reality in the mirror at their bathroom sink" - Miranda Lambert
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