To Overcome Insecurity--Iris

 Loving yourself may be easier said than done. 

In my freshman year, I vividly remember a day when I was wearing a striped t-shirt from Kohl’s, black shorts, and black nike shoes. One of my friends asked, “Didn’t you wear that same outfit two days ago? Why do you wear casual-boring clothes?” Following that, she says, “You look funny.” As much as I was annoyed by the ongoing comments, it hurt me. It may be that I was oversensitive, but that moment changed me for the worse. I began to change myself for others in order to perfectly “fit in” with the majority. I bought clothes that I wouldn’t often wear in order to match “trendy” styles and I began to compare myself to other people which eventually drove me to become self conscious towards my own appearance. I ultimately stopped being the “real” me. My necessity to impress someone so that they would like me gradually swallowed me whole as I found myself wanting to make others happy rather than myself. 

But what I don’t regret is learning from that experience. 

Insecurity. It can be defined as the feeling of uncertainty and self doubt that drives someone to be anxious of oneself. It triggers how a person behaves as they lose trust in their own capabilities. 

We have all been prone to insecurity at some point, maybe even without realizing it. Have you ever wanted to raise your hand in class to answer a question but were afraid of saying the wrong thing? Then you would regret not saying it after finding out it was actually the correct answer? That too, has happened to me multiple times. That doubt, that thing keeping us from doing even a simple task exemplifies our lack of confidence. Have you ever said “I can’t do it” before actually trying to do it? It’s small temporary moments just like these that are all related to feeling insecure about yourself and being afraid to do something. Although your insecurities can be anything, most people are insecure about how others perceive them and how others would judge them. As humans, it is in our nature to judge by physical appearance thus, making oneself worry about how they appear to others as well. Our insecurity shines through by taking advantage of our heads with a tiny voice that tells us all sorts of things to lower our self-esteem such as “I’m not good enough,” “I look ugly,” “I don’t think they like me,” and “I’m not good at this.” It is our responsibility to fight this voice in our heads, and to conquer our insecurities with words of positivity. 

Insecurity stems from self-doubt and the lack of confidence in oneself, and the only way to combat this is to tell ourselves that we are good enough. That we are the best versions of ourselves. In the end, we are all the same and we all want to be loved, but hiding the best of you to please others will not guarantee you happiness. You have to let people acknowledge your true self rather than a fake side of you. Do not let your insecurities prevent you from doing what you do best- which is being yourself. Yeah, so what if you're awkward, nerdy, weird, quirky, or whatever words you’ve called yourself or that others have called you by? That is what makes you, you. That is what makes you unique from others. The most important step to overcoming your insecurities is to love yourself