Being a teenage girl in today’s society is such a difficult thing. And no, I’m not just saying that to complain. The society we exist in as teenage girls causes us to constantly reevaluate and judge ourselves through an ever-changing lens- in my brain, that sounds like a pretty difficult thing. To love yourself, be comfortable with yourself, and be confident in yourself is such a bold and brave thing in this world. Therein lies the importance of dating yourself. Dating yourself and spending time with yourself is so important in building your own self confidence and security within yourself.
I’ll be honest, in my own experience, being confident is not an easy thing. I am an extremely aware and anxious person. I am constantly wondering what other people are thinking about me. One of the harshest truths I’ve ever had to face was that people are really not thinking about me in reality; not in a sad or depressing way, but in the way that everyone in our world is so self-obsessed and self-concerned that honestly, no one is going to have the time to judge you. This is something I only recently discovered and it was so freeing to learn (even though I have to constantly remind myself of it). But, the way I learned this was simply by spending time with myself.
Spending time with yourself and only yourself can be intimidating. In our world filled to the brim with constant noise, being silent and solitary is so foreign to us. The more time you spend with yourself, the more confident you will become in your own skin. It’ll be easier to be alone and when you’re not alone, you’ll have a better understanding of who you are and where you fit in groups.
To clarify: when I say that we should all date ourselves more, this doesn’t have to mean a true “date” where you get dressed up and head to a fancy restaurant. The great part about dating yourself is that there’s no one to impress, so you can do whatever you want, however you want. I personally enjoy going for walks, meditating, journaling, getting coffee, going for drives, or getting lunch by myself. The important part of dating yourself is not where you go or what you do; it’s all about being able to be by yourself, learn a little about yourself, and be comfortable with these things.
Being secure and confident in yourself is such a radical and difficult thing in our world, so go be brave and take your beautiful self on a date!