Self confidence.

Why is this a daily struggle for me? For as long as I can remember, I have lacked it. I cannot pinpoint a certain circumstance that damaged it.

It could have been not fitting in at school, dealing with constant acne from an early age, always being the fat kid out of the friend group or maybe a combination of everything – I’m not sure.

Nowadays, I find myself being over critical of myself – whether it’s my appearance in photographs or comparing myself to others who seem to have it all.

Not long ago, I was driving in the car and listening to the radio when the song “You Say” by Lauren Daigle came on. Unprovoked, I burst into tears. I realized that I needed to believe those words – that I am enough, I am strong, I am loved.

Why are we so hard on ourselves? Women in particular? I know other women who struggle with their self image as well, and it seems like it’s so hard for us to accept that we are beautiful the way we are. We are created to be who we are. We are perfect the way that we are.

That doesn’t mean we can’t desire to change ourselves, though. I still want to lose weight for me. The difference is that I need to love myself no matter what phase of life I’m in. I should love myself now even though I am working towards a better me.

For some reason, that is such a challenge for me. I don’t want to love this version of me.

But I think if we take the time to compliment each other, find what we do love about ourselves in this very moment and uplift one another, maybe we could change that perspective.

Let’s focus on loving ourselves just the way we are right this second. Practice makes perfect, right?