Confidence {The Shine Project Challenge}

Today I'm linking up to The Shine Project's weekly challenge. This week is all about CONFIDENCE. The question that was asked was:

If you saw a mother treat her daughter the way you treat yourself,

how would you feel about that mother?

First, I have to say that over the years I've started to give myself more credit for who I am, but that doesn't say that I'm not my hardest critic.

I walk by the mirror and judge my size {gross look at that bulge}, my hair {why doesn't it do anything?}, my face {round and is that another chin?}.

Source: Pinterest

I question my work {am I good enough, creative enough?}.

Source: Pinterest

I wish I could cross a few more things off my ever expanding 'to do' list each day {why does it take me so long to accomplish some things?}.

Source: Pinterest

But you know what, everything I critique myself on is really lame when I look back at it. So, if I saw a mother treat her daughter the way I treat myself...well let's just say the word LAME is the nicest thing I would think about her. I would also think she is HARSH, CRUEL, MEAN, UNKIND and COLD.  

The funny thing is, when I look in the mirror I don't see myself as lame, harsh, cruel, mean, unkind or cold. I see me. A person who loves to help others. A person who is creative and can't wait for the next inspiring project to begin. A person that is motivated everyday to add things to her 'to do' list {and cross things off because let's admit it, that is a pretty good feeling}. A person who loves to be around people.

It's time for us to look in the mirror and stop dwelling on the things we cannot change and focus on our positive attributes {and when I say 'we' I really do include myself}. Did you notice that my positive attributes have NOTHING to do with my appearance or questioning myself? They focused on me and my personality.

So where does confidence fit in with all of this? In our society we learn early on to focus on our appearances and things that we may not even be able to alter. To be more confident we need to start focusing on the good we hold inside. Have you noticed that as most people age they get more confident? I think that is because they stop caring about what everyone else is thinking and they have begun adding so many more meaningful relationships and attributes to their lives that they no longer need the acceptance from the general public {or the peanut gallery}. So, I say, let's make ourselves better by doing what makes us happy, whether that is belting out a tune in the car or bringing a neighbor some baked treats. Once we find what makes us happy then our confidence will grow with it and shine through.

Source: Pinterest

Good luck to all of you. I know that this is not an easy task but I'm excited to start empowering myself more and building my confidence with positivity.



Also, please don't forget to 'like' Collide Studio on facebook. When I get up to 50 'likes' I'll pick one fan to win a free invitation or announcement design from my Etsy shop {$14 value, the only catch is that they will have to use it by the end of August}.