When my father took my mother’s life at age 5, I had no idea the mountain of emotional complexity I’d be climbing for years to follow, all the way into my adulthood. I lived with about 4 different families by the time I was a young teen with many different identities; conforming myself to fit into each living situation, subconsciously wanting to be accepted and loved. Without knowing it, I developed an acute sense of observing the people around me…how they behaved, how they looked, and what made them angry, sad, and happy. I learned how to study people at an early age, and adapt myself to fit into a world I felt out of place in.
While this was a survival tool in my younger years, it became self-detrimental in my adult years. I constantly compared myself to everyone around me, which meant I never felt good enough. It’s taken years of self-work, awareness, and positive self-talk to love and accept myself as I am. It’s really easy to fall into the comparison trap (I know I still do), especially in our world today. But keep climbing the mountain of self-doubt cause at the top you’ll find your own sense of self, your inner strength, your own unique beauty, you’ll find you. And the world needs more of YOU.
