“Why am I selling myself short?” A question that I had to recently ask myself after a long conversation with one of my good friends, while I was supposed to be studying. The question had to be asked after I found out about something that had kind of irked me.

When I had first found out about what had happened I wasn’t really bothered by it, until my friend said to me “Emma, you should care more because you deserve better.” This got me thinking about myself. Why do we sell ourselves short? I know this statement isn’t applicable to everyone, but it definitely applies to some of my life situations and the life situations of many of my friends in college.

The main answer to this question that I think of is that I just don’t think I’m good enough. That is a simple answer, but sometimes we don’t give ourselves enough credit. This is problematic for many reasons. Some of those reasons include depleted self-image and an overall view of ourselves in a way that we won’t be able to make ourselves happy no matter what we do.

Another answer to the earlier-posed question, is that we constantly have these influences surrounding us: friends, acquaintances, and the media, that we’re constantly comparing ourselves to. I’d like to focus on the media especially because I feel as though the media displays images of this ideal person that we should aspire to be. After thinking, I believe that I personally need to stop trying to aspire to be like some of the people displayed in the media.

It’s so unrealistic to set those standards for ourselves. I need to start realizing that I’m pretty great just the way I am.

To reflect back on the statement that my friend said to me during our conversation, I should care more because I do deserve to be treated better, especially from people who claim to care about me and my feelings. Why do I constantly give people, who obviously don’t respect me, second chances?

The answer to this question is that I’m so scared of losing people who I still care about, even though they really don’t care about me. It should be easy to get rid of these people, but the reality of this is that it isn’t so easy to just let go of those people. I think I need to tell myself that it’s okay to stop caring about those people who aren’t really my friends, even though they claim to be.