with all the motivational videos on YouTube , self-love quotes on Instagram ,reels

and Tiktoks about self-acceptance ,self-care etc. One would actually expect us to
at least have an ounce of confidence, if not a lot. All these sources are a great
way to spread positivity and love ,don't get me wrong, especially to those who need
it. I'm inspired by individuals who preach self-love/self-acceptance , and actually
embody it , regardless of how they look or what kind of imperfections they have.
According to what I've observed , most beauty standards of the 1980's , or so ,
have been thrown out the window. We now have women of all shapes and shades making
waves on the internet and world-wide more than ever. We have more freedom to be
authentically ourselves now more than ever. But why are'nt we?
Why are so many of us still struggling with an extremely low self-esteem despite
the changes that have occurred ? One minute we have self-confidence , full to the
brim , and the next it's gone. Some of us live as shadows/copies of other people ,
half our lives , and we never even notice. Sure , there still are a lot of
individuals who spend their days shaming people on the internet , a lot of hate
crimes and criticism all around, maybe that’s why some of us see it as a better
option to hide in a cocoon rather than showing our true selves only to be shamed
for it. Those are some of the things we have no control over. Other than that ,
one other thing that can contribute to a low self-esteem is a lack of self-
awareness. Think about this ,can we really be authentic if we don't know ourselves?
Can we love self , accept self , care for self , if we do not even know self ? The
core of self-love , self-acceptance , authenticity and confidence is just that ;
Self-awareness , self-knowledge.
Authenticity is defined as, "Undisputed credibility". Another definition is, "The
act of confirming the truth of an attribute". There are many other definitions that
you could find on the internet or dictionary, but I deliberately chose these
specific definitions because I feel they paint a clear picture of the word itself.
Words such as "credibility" and "truth" to me portray certainty. To be truly
authentic , you need to have certainty of self. So before you even think of trying
to build self-confidence , build self-awareness. Ask yourself the difficult
questions ; be really honest. Who am I at my core? What are my strengths? What are
my weaknesses? What are my core values? Do I embody these core values or do I only
require them from other people?