Be Bold. Be Confident. Be Beautiful.

Hey There all my lovelies! 

So, as always blogging isn't my strong suit. Which, that's okay...I have many things on my platter at the moment, so when I find time (and things!) to blog about I get pretty happy!

I've been thinking about confidence a lot lately. Confidence is such a weird thing...I think most of us struggle with confidence issues, but why? 

My confidence hasn't always been high...in fact I have struggled much of my life with issues of not feeling good enough or worrying that I will not be talented enough, pretty enough, smart enough or just enough. 

It's a weird thing questioning yourself constantly "Are you enough??" 

I have found that when my confidence starts to shake, so does my life. It seems so inevitable. Once I get down on myself things just seems to crumble and then it brings me down more. 

I don't have the cure-all confidence fixer for my life (or yours...), but maybe we can work together to build ourselves and others up.
 I think the biggest things we all have to remember is that when we feel great about ourselves and our lives we have so much more to share with others! 

So, what have I done to help battle some of my confidence shaking issues? 

1.) I write little notes to myself. Daily reminders that give me the encouragement I need. They are usually self affirmations that produce positive feelings throughout the day. For example "I am a great person with many gifts to share." When I read these little notes they make me feel good. I try and repeat these little saying throughout the day too, and I truly try and believe it! 

2.) Even on the days I may not go anywhere I still try and take care of myself by dressing nicely and maybe even sometimes putting on a bit of makeup. This helps me feel good because I am just rolling out of bed and then going on about my day in my pjs and hoodie. Although, I do have those days, I really have been trying to have less and less days like that. I want to take care of myself in that way to show myself respect. When you give yourself respect your confidence soars. 

3.) I don't get too hard on myself. This one I still struggle with. I think we all have guilt and iniquities that we struggle with. I know I do. Things I can't help but think about daily...but, the thing that I do to battle them is by forgiving daily. Whether it be myself or others...I truly try and forgive. When I get those overwhelming thoughts of where I am and how my past has effected me I accept the fact I cannot change it and I forgive whomever I have on my brain at that time. It's so very important. 

4.) The last thing that shakes my confidence many times is the negative thought that just pop in and take over. This is the biggest and greatest thing we can do for ourselves and each other...COMPLIMENTS! When I get those negative thought that say "you're not worth it" I say right back to my thought "YES I AM!" Then I shower myself with compliments! It's as easy as that. It's all about training our brains to automatically jump to the positive thoughts that we should ALWAYS have about ourselves. Instead of taking that negative thought and dwelling on it I counteract it with a great thought about myself. We can also help others by showering them with compliments. 

These are just a few things that I think we could all take, put in our pocket and really try and focus on to help build ourselves up to be the best and most beautiful selves we can be. Why not? 

So, go forth and be BOLD. Be CONFIDENT...and most of all truly feel BEAUTIFUL about yourself inside and out. 

 To inspire BRIGHT, BOLD and BEAUTIFUL confidence, my middle son and I took some self portraits :) 

ENJOY!!