How Insecurity Ruins Lives

Dear society,

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror, and thought, “why am I so ugly?” Well, a few years ago, that was me every morning. Girls and boys all around the world have once felt ashamed of who they are, even if it was just for a moment. Insecurity comes in many shapes and forms. People are insecure about their bodies, meanwhile others are ashamed about their work, upbringing, possessions, appearance, social skills, etc. This is something that should be addressed more often in society. People talk about bullying and suicide which is important but, have you ever stopped to think about why some people commit suicide in the first place? Why people bully others? It’s because of their low self esteem. Bullying forms when students are insecure about themselves. Suicide occurs when the victims create a unrealistic image of themselves which could then lead to depression or wanting to die. Insecurity becomes an obstacle which slowly drowns you in negativity. You start to develop a low self image and doubt yourself, which then leads to missing out on all the great experiences in life.

Many young teens produce a self image of themselves which is most of the time, over exaggerated or unrealistic. As this behaviour becomes bigger in society, many more younger kids will start losing confidence and be more insecure about their looks, their interests, etc. This can become a big problem and result in jealousy, over dependence, constant anger and vulnerability. Trust me, I know how it feels to be jealous over others because they had confidence in themselves and I didn’t. “Seven in ten girls believe they are not good enough or do not measure up in some way, including their looks, performance in school and relationships with friends and family members”. There are so many ways that these girls take hurtful comments from others personally and feel like they are not enough for someone or something. It’s not only girls who feel this way, it’s also boys, “63% of men thought their arms or chests were not muscular enough”. Everyone knows that the stereotype of men is being masculine and confident. This can really impact how thinner boys see themselves! Imagine someone saying that you’re not muscular enough, or someone saying you are too skinny and not manly. Before you spit out mean remarks, you should think about how they would make you feel. With this standards as high as these, who knows how many more people will become doubtful of themselves. I believe that insecurity is unnecessary because everyone has their own talents but we also need to learn how to accept ourselves for the things we aren’t good at.

When young girls and boys are insecure, they miss out on so many opportunities that could lead to scholarships, careers or colleges. When I was young, I wanted to audition for a school musical but I felt too scared to do so, even though I had a shot at making it through and getting the lead role. After the show there were many sponsors and the actors who were the stars of the show got in contact with agencies from all over the world. I regret it later because I could have gotten a chance to achieve my dreams but because my insecurities stopped me from doing so, I couldn’t. “When asked to name their single biggest regret in life, 76% of participants said it was not fulfilling their ideal self.” In order to “fulfill your ideal self”, as stated in the quote, you need to be open to taking chances and trying new things to be able to reach the goals you’ve set. When you pull back the layers and really think about it, there are so many more ways which people can miss out on amazing opportunities. Life is about living it to your fullest, appreciating all the small things and making new memories by taking chances, but how can you do all that when you are too scared to even try?

Society could argue that people will grow out of their insecure feelings but consider how many more young teens could miss out on experiencing their first prom, their first date, sleeping under the stars, etc. As they grow older these individuals could regret so much about their childhood and honestly, we don’t have time to be regretting what we didn’t do. We need to think about the new generation who could be feeling the same way that we did when we were young. Society needs to change their visions and standards of how men and women should be like. If we continue on like this, how will we ever learn to accept others but more importantly, love ourselves?

Let’s work together to build a society in which people feel accepted and respected for who they are.

Yours truly,

Someone who used to be insecure