Self-Esteem Series Pt1: How I Stopped Cursing My Reflection

I’ve struggled with low self-esteem for 16yrs. This episode was filled with absolute hate for myself. I used to cry whenever I was faced with my reflection in the mirror ,would wonder why God was so unfair to me. I used to beg my parents to not send me to school because I didn’t want anyone to see my ugly face. I carried this fear up into my teenage years where I would always walk with my head down to save passersby the burden of looking into my face……
But!!!……………….LOL I brought the mood down; but I got over all of this, I went crying at the mirror to blushing after my own reflection. However this journey is not complete because Self-Love is a never ending process. If you’re struggling with low self-esteem please read the steps I’ve taken to improve mine and hopefully these steps can help you too.

1)Understanding my value in Christ played a major role in improving my self-esteem. Simply understanding that my value spans far beyond my physical appearance and that God, even with this “ugly” face of mine still loves me unconditionally. And if you’re not a religious person and you believe in the natural vibrations that the universe radiates, please understand that the importance of your presence in the universe is immeasurable, babe you were made from star dust and intergalactic collisions, you were made beautiful even if you or some other human being can’t see it.

2)I started accepting myself when I was 18yrs old, I remember I was laying on bed when I said to myself “Wendy, this is the face you were born with and this is the face you’re going to die with”. I had no other choice but to accept my “ugly” face and move on. Crying every time I looked in the mirror, walking with my head down, hating myself, wishing I looked like someone else……..none of that was going to help me and none of it is going to help you. I had to suck it up and move on, I know it sounds hard but what I was doing or what we’re doing is only putting us into a never ending downhill spiral of depression and self-hate.

3)My cousin used to always joke with me and say “pick a struggle”, what he meant was that since I had so many going wrong for me I needed to have an equal amount or greater of things going well for me.
So I did exactly what he said, I picked a struggle, since I was so physically unattractive I would make my personality or my “insides” more attractive to counteract the effects from my ugly “outsides”. I spent 1 to 2 and half years working on my personality, I started to reading articles about how to make people like you, how to be a good person, I brushed up on my manners, I started reading more so I could join in on all types of conversations….the list goes on. However please note that this is a continuous process and at no point will we achieve 100% Self-Love, because you will be learning new ways to love yourself everyday.
Thank you so much for sticking until the end. Please look out for Part2 of my Self-Esteem Series which I will post as a series. So please comment and tell me what steps you have taken to improve your self-esteem or how useful you found mine. Thank you and see you again!!