Dear People Whom I Deem Beautiful and Confident,

Let me ask you a question: on behalf of all the people who sometimes feel and treat themselves like garbage, how do you do it? How do you go about your day convincing everyone that you’re 100% content with everything happening in your lives? How do you make it seem like you live a perfect existence (even though we know you don’t) and continue on, simply satisfied with what you’ve got? How did you reach your levels of confidence? Is the phrase “fake it until you make it” really something you live by? Or does it come by self-acceptance?

Often, I wonder if people like you are constantly happy. Obviously, I know you aren’t. You’re only human, and you’re bound to question your emotions. But you all seem to power through your struggles and end up in a good place at the end. Achieving something like that is beautiful to watch. It’s even magical. Even though it’s not easy all the time, how do you find the power to last through it?

In this part of the world, everyone always wants more. More money, more fame, more education, more justice, more drama, and even more fries. But the whole world strives for more happiness. To people like me, happiness seems to be the outcome of confidence. How do you make your confidence so appealing to those who lack it? How do you all convince us that confidence will make us happy?

Confident people: I want you to know that people aspire to be you. Many times, you’re the source of happiness and inspiration for people who cannot fully grasp the meaning of dignity and self-acceptance. I ask these questions merely out of curiosity, not to place you on a pedestal because I know you are also humans, and you have flaws too.

But the pinnacle of my thoughts is how you begin to accept yourself. Where do you begin? How do you begin to find beauty in the things that have disgusted you for years, or even decades upon end? What compels you to ignore the loud shouts of frustration and anger in your minds, and listen to the positive and encouraging voices instead?

If you know the answers to at least some of these questions, let us know. We’d really love to have them.

With Desperation,

Everyone Else Who Has Self-Esteem Issues

. . .

In any case, I’m fully aware that some of these questions may never have their answers because low self-esteem is something that everyone seems to suffer from. There are, however, a few individuals who have unlocked some keys of confidence. I’m proud to say that I’m friends with one of those people. Here are some lovely words to end with:

“I hadn’t realized just how much of a taboo self-confidence has become until I looked at myself. Why is it silenced? Why are the words ‘confidence’ and ‘arrogance’ interchangeable to many people? For so long, I’ve struggled with myself. I rarely felt beautiful, and when I did, I felt odd and almost uncomfortable. I thought confidence wasn’t something I was supposed to feel, and that I was better off littering my body with scars and filling my head with lies. I’ve recently been working on changing that in recent days. I still feel weird about referring to myself using words like ‘cute’, ‘beautiful’, and definitely ‘sexy’, but instead of fighting it, I’m trying to embrace it… I’ve begun to realize that confidence is a state of mind and not something that is reliant on physical beauty. Please, know that you are allowed to feel comfortable in your own skin. You’re a beautiful human being, who deserves to look at yourself with awe and wonder.” — Kristina Esmer