The wonderful @sgi077 requested a blog post about the progression of my confidence!
Now I'm sure you've all read in my blogs before that I had a hard time as a teenager and I had poor self esteem. Achieving confidence as an adult was a challenge, although not impossible! There are many influences in my life which have really helped me see myself in a much kinder light.
1) Suicide GirlsI'm sure it may seem cliche, but Suicide Girls catapulted my journey into self love, respect and confidence. As a young person I was extremely naive and believed there was only one type of beautiful, one type of desirable body. It wasn't until I spent countless hours on this site browsing all the different sets available that I actually learnt that there were women with the same body as me, there were women with different bodies than me and they all WORKED IT!
2) The Right People
Soon after joining SG, I was able to rid my life of a lot of judgemental and mean people. This gave me more than enough room to embrace new friends. These friends behaved so differently, they never gossiped or made fun of the way other people looked. They celebrated all different shapes and sizes. It actually changed my mind set and the way I treated people, I learnt a lot about my body too and how normal things like stretch marks, cellulite, lumps/bumps, lines all were. If I had stayed in my previous friendship group I feel like I would've stayed obsessed with being "cool" and unhealthily attempting to have this "perfect body."
3) Embracing what I have, instead of what I don't
I'll never have big breasts as much as I love them and feel they would compliment me better (unless I get an augmentation but I haven't got that sort of dedication). Instead of constantly being down about what I didn't have I searched for something I did like and appreciate. For my shape and size, I think my booty and thighs are pretty damn special. I love showing them off!
I'm still on a journey, I'm no where near as confident as I'd like to be but I'm also miles forward from where I was. I've learnt to accept compliments and kindness. I've learnt how doing that in return helps build up other people and create positive connections. I think being around the right type of people and communities will always help the way that you not only see others, but yourself!
Mila x
