Love Yourself First
There is only one person who can tell you who you are, and that person is you. You’re responsible for your own confidence, your own triumphs, your own empowerment. How can you ever expect to love anyone else if you don’t love yourself first? Being an empowered woman doesn’t have to mean taking a stand on a radical issue. Sometimes, empowerment can be as simple as knowing who you are, knowing what you want, and having a plan to get there.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned since I started college this year, it’s that you need to believe in yourself to be successful. You won’t pass a test if you don’t think you can. You can’t pull through that all-nighter if you don’t have faith (and some coffee). But most importantly, you can’t form relationships with other people if you don’t know who YOU are.
So, take control. You need to know who you are and love yourself for that. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else, being YOU is so much more important. The people who truly care are in your life for the real you, and changing yourself will only damage the relationships you’ve built. Be so unapologetic of who you are that people wonder how you do it. Insecurity will always be at the root of your problems unless you find a way to move past it. If you don’t know yourself and accept yourself, then no one else can.
My advice is this: find the things that make you feel alive. Find the people you feel relaxed around. If you find someone you can tell everything to, tell them. If you have the opportunity to get closer to a new friend, take it. Don’t hold back. Sing at the top of your lungs with the people who matter, laugh until it hurts, eat ice cream at midnight every once in a while, and cry when you feel like crying. Empowerment only comes when you’re genuine about who you are.
If you’re insecure in your own identity, things will never be successful. It’s only when you’re not holding anything back that you can move forward. Love yourself first, and you’ll love every second of life.