March 13, 2020 “Practice Confidence”
When people meet me today, they often say they admire my confidence. I must admit I haven’t always exuded this much self-assurance. Growing up, I was extremely tiny, underdeveloped for my age and very shy. When I started playing sports my confidence began to boost. However, when I reached the dating age my confidence waned as I grew concerned with other’s thoughts about my appearance. It took me a while to realize that my worth doesn’t decrease because of someone’s inability to see my worth. And once I realized that…I became No Mess.
When I was planning my annual birthday photoshoot, I thought about how I wanted to end my 40’s. What did I learn about myself? I decided I had a story to tell. I gathered sheer fabric in various shades and along with my make up artist, we came up with a theme to project through photos. When you place sheer over your body it is translucent and unforgiving, it will show every flaw. On the other hand, sheer is also soft and delicate next to your skin, creating a beautiful silhouette. My unbreakable confidence has grown despite my flaws, scars and soft heart and I practice being confident daily. Confidence comes from feelings of well-being, acceptance of your body, mind and belief in your ability, skills and experience.
The theme for this photoshoot is “God is a Healer”! I wanted to show the trials and tribulations I experienced and how my God is a healer. How that once shy girl who didn’t always love her body now embraces it unashamed and unapologetically. The sheer fabric revealed everything. I wanted to share my scars in hopes of inspiring others, and to remind myself of what I’ve gone through to become the person I am today. When I saw the final product, I was proud of the woman in the pictures. In the past, I would have been too embarrassed to show my underdeveloped body and flat butt. Or I would have been concerned about others comments regarding how revealing some of the pictures were. However, with each year of my life and especially this decade I have grown tremendously more confident.
Confidence is not something we have; it is something we practice so that it exudes in all that we do. Confidence is not something we can just conjure up by saying, “Okay, I need to be confident right now.” True confidence comes from affirming ourselves regularly, treating ourselves kindly and not allowing the negative comments of others to invade our minds. When our mental chatter props us up and reminds us that we are capable of whatever we wish to accomplish, half of the battle in achieving any goal is already won. Don’t approach your life from a mentality of defeat. Approach your life with the vibrancy of “I got this…I am No Mess” because at the end of the day who’s to say you don’t.
Just like my favorite exercise, yoga, requires practice, you won’t learn it in a day, so PRACTICE confidence, love, self-worth and kindness not only to others but to yourself, daily. No Mess
