Self Acceptance



I've been noticing lately that since becoming a post grad I care a lot less about what people think of me. I've always tried to be that type of person.. the one who did her own thing despite the norm. Yet, deep down there were always lingering insecurities that I'm sure most young women and men have to deal with.

I think we start to become more happy with who we are when we're in college. Some might say these are the years we "find" or "discover" ourselves, but I really think college is the time when we just accept who we are, quirks and faults included.

In high school, at least in my high school, there was always some sort of quiet pressure or competition. If you weren't great at sports, then you better be into the music or the arts. If you weren't into either of those, then you better be an honor student and part of student government. Any combination of the above was sort of an extra self confidence boost we could take with us throughout the school day, as we wandered the halls, already insecure about our personality, appearance, or latest relationship status.

Once you were in college, all of these pressures were released. You had the chance to start all over again, pursuing only what interested you. In my four years as an undergrad I did things I never thought I'd have the courage to do. I took on leadership positions, performed a ten minute long monologue in front of hundreds, and even took a risk in pursuing a major that wasn't necessarily going to land me with a position immediately after graduation. Yet, after all of this, I still felt like I could probably love myself a little bit more.

Post grad life has essentially thrown me over the edge into the cool waters of self acceptance, because in this world, believing in yourself and your own strengths is the only way to make it through. A boss isn't going to hire you if you only like yourself a little bit and relationships aren't going to flourish if you aren't willing to stand up for what you believe in.

Most of us have great support systems of family, friends, or significant others. But if you don't accept yourself, the crazy cloud of emotional distress and endless opportunities that is post grad life might eat you alive. So let's keep on accepting ourselves post grads. I'm making no apologies for who I am, and working to better myself only because I want to, not for the approval of others.

In the comments, I challenge our readers to make a list of five things they have learned to accept about themselves since graduating. In my next post I'll share mine..

0 comments:

Post a Comment