once upon a time, i was shy

You can call me the preacher of SELF. Because what’s more important than ONESELF.

Once upon a time, I was shy. I knew what I was doing but to confidently express myself, that’s where I run into problems. I have always envied confident people and have tried to be like them. I admire them a lot too because they have what I wanted, in order to be the best version I can be.

I realized that I always beat myself up when I see confident people because I am not like them — yet I have never tried to be like them. So I decided to try, I asked some of the people I find confident how they can be so confident at the things they do, and in summary, the replies say “Just do it”. Just do it?? Yes! And that’s so true.

I thought doing it was the problem, but the real issue is: I always thought about what other people think about my actions thereby making it difficult to express myself in the best way possible. “What will people think of me?” .. “What am I even doing?”

“don’t ever be afraid to shine remember the sun doesn’t give a fuck who it blinds”

One thing I have learned is that when you are doing something, anything, whatever. Just do you. You have to be yourself first and not care what others think.

Stop seeking validation from people. Well, this is hard because sometimes I still do. But then, I readjust myself to focus on what really matters — ME.

“One of my favorite things I’ve ever learned from my therapist is that everyone owns their own emotions. This means that if someone finds me weird for doing something, that’s no reason for me to be less confident. Them finding me weird is THEIR opinion, THEIR perception of me, and has nothing to do with me, or the objective truth.” — anon

Whatever you are afraid to do, this is the sign you need to go for it. Ask yourself what you think about it and that’s all the validation you need.

Until the next Self-talk time. Follow my Instagram @mariam_seme. Love love, clap clap.