Countering self-consciousness with self-confidence

Mackenzie Pagels ‘21, Lyon Life Editor-in-Chief 

The term ‘self-confidence’ comes from loving oneself and engaging in self-care in order to intensify the act of loving who you are. Although confidence does not come easily, the practice of earning worthiness is easy once we are not ashamed of, but have instead embraced out appearance and our personality. 

Looking in the mirror each morning and admiring each and every characteristic you love about yourself helps to counterbalance the idea of self-consciousness, or feeling uneasy with your actions or appearance. In order to be confident, we have to feel as if we deserve it. Senior Rhiannon Pies has found a way to discover her confidence in another way. Pies said, “I love myself because I feel like I am a good person when it comes to helping others out, and that makes me feel good about myself.” 

When we show affection toward others, we then develop love for ourselves. Putting in time and effort for others allows us to start to push away the bad days, and gain confidence in ourselves and our peers. Every person has days where they do not feel as valuable as the day before. To this, we are capable of admiring the bad days and focusing on ways we can be courageous and improve our mindset. 

Showing love towards yourself and your body can come in many forms, whether it is being able to wear a certain outfit while going out or continuing to eat what you want when your body signals to you. Self-care is a huge step in the right direction when focusing on gaining confidence and body positivity. By  taking part  in soothing rituals and daily reminders to listen to your body and give it what it needs, we are prone to develop self-love as we see it, and this self-confidence can come in many shapes and sizes. Although one may not feel worthy of self-love, we are all capable of finding the balance between self acceptance and vulnerability. Positivity and skill-learning website, MindTools, said, “Self-confidence is vital in almost every aspect of our lives, yet many people struggle to find it. Sadly, this can be a vicious cycle: people who lack self-confidence are less likely to achieve the success that could give them more confidence.” No one person should be ashamed of their own body or personality. Lacking self-empowerment can diminish one’s goals and weaken one’s ability to pursue a positive well-being.