Thoughts On "Why the Strongest Girls Are Insecure"

I just came across this article today on Facebook and it reminded me so much of myself, so I had to share it.  At the end of the article I will share my thoughts on it.

Why the Strongest Girls Are Insecure

By Holly Riordan

She has high standards. She won’t settle for boys that treat her disrespectfully. She won’t hold onto friendships that are toxic. She won’t let anyone that brings her down remain in her life. 

But she isn’t a hypocrite. She holds herself to those same standards.

She expects herself to reach the stars, so she hates herself on the days when she sits in bed with a bag of chips and skips the gym. On the days when she doesn’t get enough done.

Of course, no matter how much she accomplishes in life, no matter how much love she gives, she keeps pushing herself further. She wants to do more. To be more. Because she knows she’s capable of more. 

She’s insecure, because she believes in her potential and she knows that she hasn’t reached it yet. She trusts that she’ll succeed, but wishes that she could see more progress. She wants to know that she’s on the right path. That her faith is justified.

No one sees how terrified she is. No one notices that she’s struggling to stay strong.

She looks like she has it all together, so friends don’t think she needs any reminders of how beautiful and talented she is. They stay quiet when she’s secretly screaming for their encouragement. When she needs someone to tell her she’s been doing her best and that her best is good enough.

She may seem like a superhero, but she’s still human. She still needs support. She still needs her friends.

And those friends are part of the reason why she’s so insecure. She’s selective about who she keeps close, so if you’re in her life, you matter. She feels like you deserve the best, so she wants to give you everything. As much happiness as she can.

But that’s impossible to do. She can’t control the lives of others — but she tries. She tries to take her boyfriends on romantic dates and find them the perfect birthday gifts. She tries to take her friends on fun nights out and cheer them up after breakups. She tries to make her parents proud.

And it drains her. Taking care of herself is hard enough — add that to trying to take care of everyone else — and it’s a wonder how she survives.

But she does. She finds enough energy to make it through her days with a smile. Because she isn’t the type to give up. She’s a fixer. She’s a giver. She’s an achiever.

Even though her insecurities might slow her down, they never stop her. She ignores the nagging voices in her head that tell her she’s too stupid or too ugly or too inexperienced.

She does what she sets out to do — even when she’s not sure if she can succeed.

Really, you can’t blame her for feeling insecure. She’s that way, because she has high standards. Because she never thinks she’s earned enough. Because she knows what she could be and isn’t going to stop until it becomes her reality.

I love this article so much because I am a person that has high standards, not just for the people around me, but most importantly myself.  Just ask my boyfriend, he is always telling me that I am too hard on myself.  I am always wanting to do better in every aspect in my life.  

Not only do I have high standards but I am also what they call an "achiever."  I have to do something EVERYDAY to make myself feel accomplished.  Whether it is doing the laundry and cleaning the house or working out that day.  I have to feel like I achieved something.  This never really occurred to me until we had to take a strengths finder test at work.  "Achiever" was one of my top three strengths.  When I read the description of an achiever it hit the nail on the head.  Now it is a lot more apparent to me that I cannot go a day without achieving something.  

The one thing that I would change about the article is the comments about being insecure.  I definitely am not insecure with myself, but I do get mad at myself when I know that I could be doing better in a certain area of life. Examples such as getting my workout in everyday or if I was too lazy to fix my hair and instead wear it in a bun to work.  Yes, I am serious, I get mad at myself for not taking the time to fix my hair for work.  I am always wanting to better myself and I will always be pushing myself in all areas of life.