Now, I’m not one who enjoys talking badly of my friends (or anyone, actually), but there are certain people on this planet, who I think take self-modesty a tad too seriously… To the point where it becomes self loathing.
Before I begin, let me give you a brief background on what I’m talking about. In general, there are two types of modest people. The type who are modest because they want attention (you know, the type who purposely say bad things about themselves so other people can shower them with praise), and the type who are modest because they genuinely think they aren’t good enough.
I couldn’t care less about the ones who crave attention – whatever their intentions are don’t matter to me. I’m talking about the people who really aren’t happy with themselves.
I’ve got a friend who is constantly criticising herself. She’s either too thin or too fat, too pale or too tan. In class she’s under the misconception that no matter how hard she tries, she can never be as good as the top tier students. Like me, she aspires to write, but she doesn’t dare to start because she’s afraid her work wouldn’t be as good as she hopes. She believes her life is going nowhere. Well, of course it isn’t – not with that attitude!
I know I sound harsh and uncaring, but it irritates me to see people so displeased with themselves. We’re all different, and each of us is amazing in our own ways. Perhaps you aren’t as attractive as the people in the magazines. Perhaps you don’t have the best grades in class. But what does it matter? Why let it get to you? We have our own strengths and weaknesses, and it’s not the outside that matters, it’s – cheesy as it may sound – the inside. If we all moped about all day, and mourned over what we lacked, would we have come this far as a race? No. J.K. Rowling wouldn’t have created Harry Potter if she’d been too afraid of failure to write. Steve Jobs wouldn’t have created Apple if he’d been afraid to try. Insecurity happens to all of us, but we must overcome it, and look at the bright side. We’re all so perfectly imperfect, so why waste time crying over what we can’t be, when we should be focusing on what we can be?
I’m beginning to lose track of what I’m saying now… All this emotion is confusing me. Basically, I know this is a cheesy, sensitive post. But I honestly believe that all of you are wonderful, awesome people, and you should be proud! I know I’m completely weird and crazy, but I don’t care. It’s who I am, and I’m proud of it. So to all of you insecure people out there: YOU’RE FINE.
Adios!
Nice! I’ve thought about writing a post about this as well… I’ve had to listen to too many of my softball teammates complain about how ugly they look…. Because, I don’t know, the day’s been a complete waste if their hair isn’t perfect.
mhmm… yeah, it gets irritating after a while… Especially when the people who complain are actually fine the way they are. = =
I think it’s true that sometimes, you have to throw yourself into the unknown and bare your soul to truly achieve what it is you want. The ability to do this mustn’t be confused with brilliance, rather it’s self-belief. When you start comparing yourself to others, you aren’t appreciating your own strengths- everyone is different. But that okay, because life would be boring otherwise 🙂
Great post, with a great message 🙂
Thanks 🙂 I couldn’t agree more. I guess in life we all face different obstacles, and it’s not our abilities that help us overcome such obstacles, it’s how we view ourselves and our determination. We’re all different, but in the end we can all achieve great things… All we have to do is take that leap of faith and have a go x).
This is actually a theme I was exploring in my Camp NaNo novel – self-deprecating is a form of pride… Not because you think highly of yourself, but because you’re drawing attention to yourself. It’s a vanity thing. Whereas humility and modesty, as you phrased it, is where you don’t pull attention toward yourself: you are not inward looking, you are outward looking.
Anyway, awesome post! 🙂
mhmm… I find it quite an interesting topic, actually. It’s a theme I often explore in my novels as well… I guess perhaps it’s because I see it happen around me all the time, especially to teenagers… Some people feel the need to self-hate and portray themselves in a bad light, only because they want others to tell them otherwise. Then there are the others who actually think very poorly of themselves. I guess I just wanted to let people know that we’re all different, but that’s okay, because we have our own strengths and weaknesses and we all deserve to be proud of ourselves :D.