Learning to Love Yourself

What is Self Confidence?

Growing up, the thought to love yourself is a hard concept to grasp. The main question at hand is.. Do I love myself?

When I was a little girl, I was the ultimate tomboy. I dedicate my tomboy upbringing after living with my five brothers and one older sister. My twin brother and I are the youngest members in my family, being 19 years old now. When I was little I had to associate myself with my brothers all the time in every type of activity- snow mobiling, fishing, sports (basketball, soccer, track, snowboarding), etc..

As you can imagine, I didn't have good sense of style growing up being surrounded by boys. I was never into high heels, dresses, lipstick or any of the typical girly equipment. Growing up, I loved to wear adidas sneakers, basketball shorts that went down to my knees, and my hair was always in a ponytail. To this day, I still don't know how to curl my hair but I don't care to learn because I love being me and I feel like I don't have to fit the "girl" look to fit into society.

I was a very self-conscious girl until I reached my first year at my University, being 18 years of age. During my elementary, middle, and high school years I always had a lot of friends and boyfriends, but I wasn't confident in myself. I used to always look at the other girls in my grade and think that I didn't fit in. I wasn't the flirty-type girl who wore the latest fashion trends and name brand clothes. I was the sporty girl who wore sweatpants with my hair in a messy bun. I was a very outgoing girl, don't get me wrong, but I didn't consider myself to be "beautiful".

When I started my first year at my University I gained a lot of self confidence for myself. I made the University's soccer team and became a starting freshman. My parents and family were very proud of me and I always saw my dad and twin brother at all my games. My brother was my biggest fan. Christian was always yelling in the stands, and after the game he would come up to me and hug me as a congratulations and tell me how well I played. This boosted my self confidence. He is the one who made me push to be better, and would help me train in order to better myself. To this day, he still encourages me in everything I do, and I do the same for him. Our twin bond is so strong, he means everything to me.

Also during my first year at my University, I began to feel beautiful. While growing up I never felt like a "girly girl" because of the way I was raised. I didn't feel comfortable in my own body because I used to have more muscular legs than other girly girls (because of playing soccer, or snowboarding, etc.- all muscle). I used to wear loose-fitting jeans or sweatpants, with a loose fitting shirt. I just didn't feel comfortable in tight clothing because I didn't like the way I looked. I used to think I was fat, but all along I knew I wasn't at all. I just didn't believe in myself, and I have found that believing in yourself is the most important concept a person can do. If you have faith in yourself, than anything you do will be successful and will boost your self confidence.

Many years later after high school, I learned to love myself. I love my body, my sense of style, my hair, etc. I would not want to trade myself with anyone else. I may not be the "girly-girl," but I sure am outgoing, very fun to be around, and a very friendly girl with a lot of friends. I now wear tighter clothing than before because now I am confident in myself, and I believe in everything I do.

I believe that your school years is a time to figure out who you are and what type of person you want to become. These years are for you to define yourself, and become your own individual. These years are for you to learn to love yourself, and be confident in your own skin. Yes, it may have taken me 19 years to love myself, but hey.. I LOVE MYSELF NOW. I believe that everyone needs to love themselves for who they are and be confident in themselves because you were born perfectly and everyone deserves to have high self confidence.

I hope that after reading this you learn a little bit about myself, but that this post makes you look at your own life and hopefully helps you learn to love yourself just as much as I do. Loving yourself does not make you stuck-up and snobby, but rather boosts your confidence and you will enjoy life a lot more. Hopefully you learn to love yourself faster than I came to love myself, but once you reach that goal and understanding, nothing can bring you down. :)