Self-doubt… it can be a crippling thing, am I right? In my last post, Taking A Leap Of Faith, I discussed how in the many times I contemplated whether or not to be an actress and when I’d finally decided to do so I would put obstacles in my way.
The obstacles stopped me from really pursuing my dreams, because what these obstacles actually were, were my own self-doubt and insecurities. These insecurities being, I am too fat, I am not good enough, or I am not good at all and so on and so forth.
But now I ask myself when did I start to question and doubt myself? When you are a kid you think that your shit don’t stink and that you can do any and everything and there is no one or thing that can stop you. Think about it, you tell a five-year-old girl she’s pretty and she will either say, “I know” or “duh”, she doesn’t doubt it because up until that moment she hasn’t been told otherwise. Or you ask a little boy what is he going to be when he grows up he’ll say a “super hero” or “ninja” without a breath of hesitation. Again, he can say it with such confidence because up until this point he hasn’t been told otherwise.
Now the question is, at what point do we lose the confidence and what is the cause of it? Is it the media, school, the world? I think all may have a key factor and it’s combination of it all. Yes, the media makes us girls AND boys feel that we need to look a certain way.
And school sometimes makes us feel that our dreams are not realistic and that we are not smart because we are unable to pass a test. A quote by Albert Einstein says, “Everyone is a genius. But if you test a fish on its ability to climb a tree, then it will spend its entire life believing that it is stupid.” I honestly feel that school does that to its students, by giving ONE kind of test and teaching ONE way and expecting ALL children to understand by this ONE way.
I don’t remember the exact age but I remember being insecure in elementary school, ELEMENTARY SCHOOL. I’m just a little girl, what do I have to be insecure about? But I know I am not alone and that thought doesn’t make me feel better.Why do we as people choose to only focus on our negative traits? And those thoughts are like a downward spiral that leads us to thinking negative thoughts towards other people, and then they can feel our judgmental stares leading them to feel even more insecure.
My insecurities keep me from living my dream as I am sure your insecurities keep you from living yours. I don’t want to let it anymore and I know it is something that may take a while, but step by step and day by day it will get easier. I am going to start by looking in the mirror and finding five good things I like about my looks and five things I like about my personality. And I challenge all of you who are reading this do the same.
Maybe this is your first time reading my blog or maybe you have been along with me on this journey since the beginning. But all I know is that if you are reading this it is because you are meant to be seeing this. Whoever you are I want you to know that you are beautiful, smart, strong, brave, kind, and funny. You are the best that you can be and that is all that matters.
This is what my message is for this post, to share my insecurities and hopefully help others overcome theirs. Don’t doubt yourself because I am tired of doubting myself and I know you are too.
Until next time, stay stress-free.
Here are some fun motivating things for self-image:
These are two of my favorite shows at the moment; the women in it are confident in who they are and they don't have the most perfect bodies and that is motivating to me as an actress. Both are on Netflix so I highly recommend it.
This video of ToothBrush by DNCE is also very motivating and inspirational for young girls out there. That you are beautiful no matter what shape you are.
