Give Yourself A Chance
I was watching a video the other day, and I don't even know exactly what the girl was talking about in the video haha, but I walked away with the words "Give yourself a chance" stuck in my head. I'm super cheesy and I love quotes and cute little sayings, but I have never heard a quote like the one that stuck in my brain.
After graduating High School, I feel like I shed a layer of personality, and had to reevaluate who I was as a person separate from the stereo types of high school. At first it left me feeling pretty empty if I'm being completely honest. But after really searching, and now finding that quote, I feel like I have a better grasp on who I am, and who I want to become.
Story time:
For the majority (sophomore and junior years) of High School, I was pretty "shy" if you even want to call it that. I didn't put much effort into trying to make new friends, I never pushed myself to go to activities. I sat in my car in the mornings until the bell rang, and then went to class, and was the first one out of the building. I never made plans to hang out with friends. I never gave myself a chance, in a sense. I never put myself in uncomfortable situations so I could grow, I never called up friends to hangout, I never walked into the commons in the morning. Never giving myself a chance. A chance to grow. To gain confidence. Maybe even to fail, but hey, that's better than standing still.
The summer before senior year, I realized that I had wasted a lot of time being miserable. And I literally told myself, "You are going to enjoy your summer and your Senior Year of high school to the fullest. Good or bad." That was pretty freeing.
I remember, that summer, I wrote my number on a customers receipt because he came in a lot by himself and I thought he was cute haha. I learned how to kayak. I asked a cute boy on a date. I bought flowers and gave them to people in parking lots. I went tubing even though I was literally terrified haha. I went hammocking all the time, just because I loved it. I signed up for a race the night before, and ran it the next day haha. I bore my testimony on social media. I helped plan and execute a whole youth conference. I allowed myself to be embarrassed. Once, we were stuck in traffic, and I got out and cartwheeled for all of the cars in the line hahaha. I allowed myself to be myself. And you know what I heard in return. "Emma, you look the happiest you have ever been"! That's gotta be the best compliment you could ever receive!
Senior year ended up being the best year of my life. (Well so far haha). I made sooo many new friends, simply by talking to the people that I was sitting next to. I learned life lessons from teachers. I went to dances, joined new clubs, I went to so many different games, I hung out with my friends so much more. I opened up. I gave myself the chance. And I was happier than ever.
Back to the beginning of my post though, once high school ended, I kind of lost sight of this. I started to be addicted to checking social media. I wasn't satisfied with myself, and I thought watching and seeing other people's lives would help. I was wrong. I started to feel like I needed to change things about myself. Girls would post about wearing and feeling confident without makeup, and I would think that I needed to stop wearing makeup, even thought I love wearing it, and it makes me feel confident. I only saw the good part of everyone's days, and so when I was sad about things, I thought I needed to hide that. I was ultimately very unhappy.
And then I found this quote, and it opened my eyes once again. Following other people doesn't make me happy. I have an enthusiastic, hyper, intense personality. I love to wear makeup. I love to wave at strangers passing in cars, I like to give compliments, and I like to sing REALLY loud in the car. I like to do cartwheels, and I type "haha" in every text message. I cry when I'm happy, and I laugh like a seal. These are things that I'm not willing to sacrifice even though the world might tell me I need to.
This summer, I walked up to the lead guitarist of a band that played in our town and told him he was cute haha, I took a roadtrip with my friend even though I was terrified to drive on the freeway lol, I have danced crazy in my car multiple times even though people stare at me, I admitted my crushes in boy's yearbooks haha, drove a fourwheeler by myself, even though I was so scared haha, I left a cute little note on someone's windshield, and said yes to last minute plans (which is crazy because I'm not usually spontaneous haha). These are all really little things, but they are the things that make me the happiest. When you remember to give yourself a chance, whether it be a chance to talk to someone new, or to try a new activity, good things will come of it. And yes, sometimes I get embarrassed when I take new chances, but I've learned that it's definitely okay to laugh at yourself.
I guess what I'm saying is that you need to give yourself the chance to really be yourself. That's where you find true happiness. The world may tell you something different, but just take a chance. Let that crazy laugh out sometimes haha. And don't be too cool to take cringy pictures and laugh at yourself. That's all I guess haha.
After graduating High School, I feel like I shed a layer of personality, and had to reevaluate who I was as a person separate from the stereo types of high school. At first it left me feeling pretty empty if I'm being completely honest. But after really searching, and now finding that quote, I feel like I have a better grasp on who I am, and who I want to become.
Story time:
For the majority (sophomore and junior years) of High School, I was pretty "shy" if you even want to call it that. I didn't put much effort into trying to make new friends, I never pushed myself to go to activities. I sat in my car in the mornings until the bell rang, and then went to class, and was the first one out of the building. I never made plans to hang out with friends. I never gave myself a chance, in a sense. I never put myself in uncomfortable situations so I could grow, I never called up friends to hangout, I never walked into the commons in the morning. Never giving myself a chance. A chance to grow. To gain confidence. Maybe even to fail, but hey, that's better than standing still.
The summer before senior year, I realized that I had wasted a lot of time being miserable. And I literally told myself, "You are going to enjoy your summer and your Senior Year of high school to the fullest. Good or bad." That was pretty freeing.
I remember, that summer, I wrote my number on a customers receipt because he came in a lot by himself and I thought he was cute haha. I learned how to kayak. I asked a cute boy on a date. I bought flowers and gave them to people in parking lots. I went tubing even though I was literally terrified haha. I went hammocking all the time, just because I loved it. I signed up for a race the night before, and ran it the next day haha. I bore my testimony on social media. I helped plan and execute a whole youth conference. I allowed myself to be embarrassed. Once, we were stuck in traffic, and I got out and cartwheeled for all of the cars in the line hahaha. I allowed myself to be myself. And you know what I heard in return. "Emma, you look the happiest you have ever been"! That's gotta be the best compliment you could ever receive!
Back to the beginning of my post though, once high school ended, I kind of lost sight of this. I started to be addicted to checking social media. I wasn't satisfied with myself, and I thought watching and seeing other people's lives would help. I was wrong. I started to feel like I needed to change things about myself. Girls would post about wearing and feeling confident without makeup, and I would think that I needed to stop wearing makeup, even thought I love wearing it, and it makes me feel confident. I only saw the good part of everyone's days, and so when I was sad about things, I thought I needed to hide that. I was ultimately very unhappy.
And then I found this quote, and it opened my eyes once again. Following other people doesn't make me happy. I have an enthusiastic, hyper, intense personality. I love to wear makeup. I love to wave at strangers passing in cars, I like to give compliments, and I like to sing REALLY loud in the car. I like to do cartwheels, and I type "haha" in every text message. I cry when I'm happy, and I laugh like a seal. These are things that I'm not willing to sacrifice even though the world might tell me I need to.
This summer, I walked up to the lead guitarist of a band that played in our town and told him he was cute haha, I took a roadtrip with my friend even though I was terrified to drive on the freeway lol, I have danced crazy in my car multiple times even though people stare at me, I admitted my crushes in boy's yearbooks haha, drove a fourwheeler by myself, even though I was so scared haha, I left a cute little note on someone's windshield, and said yes to last minute plans (which is crazy because I'm not usually spontaneous haha). These are all really little things, but they are the things that make me the happiest. When you remember to give yourself a chance, whether it be a chance to talk to someone new, or to try a new activity, good things will come of it. And yes, sometimes I get embarrassed when I take new chances, but I've learned that it's definitely okay to laugh at yourself.
I love this post! Really good reminder of what's important
ReplyDeleteI love this. 💜💜
ReplyDelete