It was a couple of weeks ago. A Monday, just an ordinary Monday. There I was, sick and on some strong cold medication, strutting down YiZhong street with my sunglasses on and my hair pulled back into a sleek braid. Half of me was convinced I was going to fall flat on my face in front of a bunch of high school students outside of Family Mart, because my entire body was shaking from the medication. The other half of me felt like I was on the runway at fashion week or something equally as ridiculous. Thank you, Panadol, for that rush of unwarranted confidence.
Being confident is something I actually never really experienced on a regular basis until about age twenty-one. As we grow up–no matter your age, gender, sexuality, etc.–we all struggle with this to some extent. Some of us show a lack thereof by bullying others, and others shy away from the crowd and stick to what they know or mold to the likes of others. We all have had our issues with confidence. And with insecurities.
Part of that is due in part to advertisements and what is plastered all over the place as we get taller, wiser, and learn to use our mouths and brain power more effectively. The fun, annoying thing we have to learn is that what we see around us from day to day is not what we have to become. Funny, right? We’re told to be one thing, unconsciously and sometimes directly, our entire lives, and then we’re told to be ourselves at the same time. What a crazy, stupid paradox.
You know what confidence is? It’s walking down that night market street, feeling sure as heck about who you are and what you’re about. It’s putting on that new outfit, even though it’s different than what you usually wear, and rocking it. It’s your new hair style, shocking everyone, and killing the heck out of it, even if people have negative things to say about it. It’s admitting you like something or someone and not caring who has something to say about it. It’s kissing whoever you love–he, she, they, etc.–and only caring about the happiness you share. It’s wearing any size, color, brand, or style and owning it because you feel like a million bucks when you wear it. Confidence, no matter what size or appearance, is always sexy.
Truth is, all the petty things people toss your way at any given moment don’t matter. Confidence radiates when you walk into a room and don’t look to others to see how you measure up. It beams off of you when you walk into that room, not caring about what others think of you or look like compared to you, because you’re one hundred percent comfortable living in your own skin. So be confident, make the world your runway, and never say no to the things that ignite that happiness within that you need to move through this vast, wonderful world.
