It's so easy to look at people and see what we don't have. Careers, grades, boyfriends/husbands, cars, clothes, etc. I know I'm guilty of it more often than not. I look at other girls who I think are absolutely beautiful and think to myself, "Wow, why can't I look like that?" or as we say now-a-days, "She's goals." Why is it that we always want something we don't have and compare ourselves to other people? Because in our heads, we have to be the best and when we see someone else who, in our eyes, is better than us, it leads us to believe that we simply just aren't good enough.

Acceptance

As people, we have this desire to be accepted. When you're starting a new school, being the "new kid" is never fun when you see that everyone has someone and you feeling like the loner of the century. In college, finding that perfect roommate or sorority/fraturnity , and for people who work, being accepted by all your co-workers/boss's. You feel like you have to go out and do the things they do to fit in with them even though sometimes it may be very uncomfortable or just not your cup of tea. Maybe its in a relationship. Whatever it may be, please just understand and know that you are not going to be accepted by everyone and not everyone is going to like you. Something my mom has always told me is I'm a people pleaser and when I can't make everyone happy, I get so upset leading me to believe that I'm just not good enough and selling myself short of all the qualities I do have. It's so easy to overlook the good in things and focus on the bad. And that goes in all aspects of life. But as I grow and learn, I'm starting to be okay with the fact that I can't please everyone. As long as I'm doing the best I can, treating everyone with respect(even the ones who I feel don't deserve it) , and doing what I know is right, thats all that matters. I know theres people who say "I don't care about being accepted, blah blah blah" you know you care! And if you don't, what's your secret? But something to remember to all the people who do care,You can't be accepted by anyone until you have accepted yourself.

Moving On

Moving on from whatever it may be that you're going through is probably one of the toughest things anyone will ever go through. Relationships, getting fired from a job, not getting the job you wanted, not getting into the college you wanted to attend, scoring bad on a test, etc.. The list goes on. It hurts your pride a little bit (Or a lot) because you feel like you did something wrong and again, like you're not good enough. But as I mentioned before this, accepting the fact that something didn't work out is hard to swallow and then of course moving on from it is even more so. But, dwelling on something you can't change isn't going to get you anywhere. For example, I had applied to work at a TV Station in the area I live in. At first the thought went through my mind that there are so many other better applicants out there for this job. Well, a week goes by and I get a call from one of the main directors asking to meet him for breakfast. My heart jumped for joy and I just couldn't believe that they chose to meet with me out of all the applicants. I had no recent history or experience with broadcasting or cameras, it was just something I felt I should try due to my career ( Sports Broadcasting).Anyways, we met for breakfast and the nice man told me I was one of the applicants they were interested in meaning I wasn't the only one. I immediately felt a wave of disappointment and lost some confidence. But then I remembered that I was one of several applicants that they chose to meet with. Long story short we had a good interview but due to my lack of experience, they found someone better suited for the job. I was really upset for awhile but my wise mother reminded me that it was amazing that they were interested and saw potential. And now my name is out there and I do stay in contact with a few of the directors for advice. I WILL try again but next time I will have more experience and knowledge to make them want to hire me. But aside from that, I decided to take the good out of that and move on for now. I am now taking steps to get closer to my career. Moral of the story is don't just take away the bad. Look at the good as well, learn from it and MOVE ON! Life has a way of working itself out. Just because something didn't work out when you wanted it to, doesn't mean it won't work out later. And who knows, maybe something better will come along.

Pick Yourself Up

After accepting what is and moving on from what isn't, all thats left to do is picking up the pieces you let fly off and sticking them back where they belong. If its one thing I've learned about myself, I absolutely hate the word "no." And I know I'm not the only one. How can a two letter word be so intimidating and have so much meaning behind it. When being told something you don't want to hear, its easy to just give up and move on from it because you don't want to face the same disappointment again. But, just think about the "what ifs" here for a second. I don't know how many times I've asked myself "what if I did this?" or "What if I did that?" and the only valid excuse I have is simply because I was scared and didn't want to be turned down.So I pretty much set myself up for disappointment before it actually happened. We are ALL guilty of it and we tend to throw ourselves down expecting other people to pick the pieces up. Its nice to have friends and a family that can do that but eventually you're going to have to be the person that does it. Pull your big boy/girl pants up and have confidence in yourself and believe that you can do anything you set your mind to. If you get turned down once, don't be afraid to try again. And when you do try again and possibly get whatever it may be you failed at once, you'll realize that you're stronger than you thought because you accomplished something you didn't think was possible. From that point on, you build your character and gain the skills you already potentially had. Confidence is key.

One last thing. A man I consider another father to me has always told me to ask myself these few questions every morning when I wake up.

1. Who is the most important person in your life? (Answer is you)

2. What will I do today that will benefit not just today, but my future?

3. What matters the most to you?

He also asked me to look at myself in the mirror every day and tell the reflection that I see that I am worth something and no one will ever be able to take that away except me.

You are your worst enemy but can also be your own best friend. Stand proud, hold your head high, make people want to respect you and know that you are important. You never know what the day can bring, so go into it with a confident attitude and stay true to who you know you are. Strength doesn't come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming things that you once thought you couldn't. Accept yourself for who you are, move on from things that aren't in your power(yet), be the best version of yourself and never stop until you reach the goal you have set. And when you do finally reach it, set a new one. After all, the stars are the limit so if you're going to aim, you might as well aim high!