New Year, New Light

Welcome Little Butterfly.

What does it mean to let your light shine? I asked a group of my friends what their light is and what it means to let it shine. No one knew each other, they were all from different backgrounds, and all have lived very different lives, however, their answers were all beautifully similar.

“Kindness” || “To be yourself” || “Personality”
“All your qualities are unique and special” || “Confidence” || “Persistence”
 “True self” || “People will love you for who you are” || “Resilience”

With these words, I began to wonder why these women, like most, are not confident or happy with their lives, but insecure and worried about what the person standing next to them is thinking. I know because I’ve had countless conversations with each one of them about how they are not good enough in some way.

“Not skinny enough” || “Thighs too big” || “Too many freckles” || “Not smart enough”
“Too Short” || “Teeth aren’t straight” || “Can’t run fast enough” || “Not good enough”
“Too many stretch marks”

If you were to put us all in a room full of mirrors we would easily stand there and tear ourselves apart about how we aren’t beautiful. Put us in a room of chairs and we would sit there and complement each other, still comparing ourselves to everyone else. The point is, we seem to think everyone is better, prettier, or smarter than us, yet we all have flaws and insecurities. I think that my friend to the left is far more beautiful than me and has way more chance of ever being a model than I do. My friend to the right, well I think she is far smarter than me, and wise beyond her years. Then there is me, in the middle of all this comparing and self-loathing, but I am pretty and smart. In fact, we are all pretty and smart, in our very own beautifully unique ways.

It is the beginning of the new year, where we all make resolutions out of tradition, resolutions that are more often, than not curated from the insecurities that we have in a desperate hope to change them. Maybe it is a new diet and healthy eating regime for the tummy that rolls over the edge of our jeans just a little more than we like. A new exercise challenge and gym membership for the thighs that jiggle a little too much when we walk. A strict diet and skin care routine for the skin that isn’t as baby bottom smooth as we would prefer. Or maybe it’s pretending to be someone we are not because our life isn’t as Instagram, Pinterest, or Tumblr picture perfect as we desire.

Perhaps for once we should not all be setting goals to try and change, forging ourselves into something we are not, but set goals to simply improve our mental wellbeing. We should be curating resolutions and implementing changes to make ourselves and our lives happier and brighter. A resolution to be kinder to ourselves. One where we love ourselves as much as other people love us. A goal to stay true to who we are and all that we do. After all we do believe it is possible, we all know that we should be loving ourselves. Maybe this is the year to put words into action, and start proving to ourselves and everyone else around us that we are stars, and we do deserve to shine a little brighter. 2018 can be the year the we all let our lights shine, because why not? The future is now, and can start whenever you are ready to turn your light on.

Now Fly Free Little Butterly and Turn Your Light On.