Stepping out and up towards better confidence

I have always had very bad self-confidence, people can tell me I look great until they are blue in the face but I will still look in the mirror some days and not be happy with what I see, having dealt with a body image disorder it is not easy to see past your own insecurities but it is something that I have been working on for some time and I really feel I am getting better at it.
 

I have always envied woman who ooze self-love and confidence, I fall very quickly into a comfort zone when it comes to clothing and I decided this year I will go out of my way and my comfort zone and start wearing things I wouldn’t normally, I cleaned out my cupboard over the weekend and I have so many items that I just don’t wear not because they do not fit etc but because I just never felt the self-confidence to wear them, which is crazy because I will go out in a corset any day but give me a hemline above my knee and I dam near hyper ventilate.

If I have learnt anything so far it’s that self-confidence is such a wonderful thing and that once you learn to stop hiding and to stop fighting compliments and actually accept them, the way you see and feel about yourself starts to grow and soon enough so does your own self confidence and the energy you send out about yourself and how you see yourself.

Baby steps are key but I already feel that I have come a long way and I am starting to enjoy picking out my clothing and putting on my make up more every day… I am not perfect, I have cellulite, I have stretch marks and I am not a size 8 but I am happy and I’m learning to show it more openly.

I think as moms we so easily fall into the trap of comfort and self-loathing but we forget to love our bodies for the change and not despite the change because the change in our bodies is evidence of life and it is beautiful and when we start to appreciate that and acknowledge that I feel that we become happier within ourselves… no one is perfect and everyone will have a day when they are un happy about the way they look or feel but I encourage all the ladies out there not just mommies.. step out of the zone, wear that dress and heels hiding in the back of your closet, put on that shade of eye shadow you dare not try out and accept the compliments that follow no matter how you feel about it and you will see that a compliment no matter how small can make the world of difference.

P.S Don't forget to give a compliment as well that's also another thing on my list this year to to give at least one compliment out verbally a day, I so often walk past someone and think to myself oh what a wonderful smile, or that a person looks amazing that day and through my own journey of self confidence I have seen how much it can make my day and I want to do the same for others so every day I try to be mindful and verbally express the compliments in my head to make that person feel as great as they should.