![\"woman](\"https:\/\/lwm-a2.azureedge.net\/uploads\/2018\/09\/woman-confidence-self-love-900x1196.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u201cSometimes I feel like I\u2019m not quite cool enough. Sometimes I feel like I\u2019m just not popular enough. Sometimes I feel like I don\u2019t fit in the same way other people do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes I feel like there is a group who maybe doesn\u2019t really want me there. Sometimes I wonder why I wasn\u2019t invited. Sometimes I wonder why I wasn\u2019t included. Sometimes I walk up to a circle of people and I get that awful, sinking feeling like they were just talking about me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sometimes I feel like the same 16-year-old girl who didn\u2019t know where to sit in the cafeteria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who didn\u2019t belong with the popular girls.
Who didn\u2019t belong with the sporty girls.
Who didn\u2019t belong with the theater girls.
Who didn\u2019t belong with the band girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And then I remember this one beautiful truth: even though I may feel like that same, insecure, trying-too-hard, what-is-everyone-else-doing, why-can\u2019t-I-be-like them girl, I\u2019m not. I\u2019m not her anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still look a little bit like her. I still have some of the same quirks as her, but I\u2019m not her. Thank the good Lord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve learned too much since then. I\u2019ve grown too much since then. I\u2019ve cried too many tears since then. I\u2019ve dried too many tears since then. I\u2019ve been through too many hard things and come out still standing upright since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I may feel like her from time to time, but I\u2019m not her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m wiser. I\u2019m stronger. I\u2019m better in most ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These aren\u2019t wrinkles on my forehead. These are the marks of a girl becoming a confident woman. These aren\u2019t stretch marks on my stomach. These are the battle wounds of a constant worrier becoming a freaking warrior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know something she didn\u2019t. I know how to make my own table. I know how to do my own thing. I know how to enjoy my own company. I know how to be grateful for my tiny tribe. I know how to be proud of exactly who God created me to be, whether I do it alone or whether I do it with thousands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know that sometimes not belonging is the greatest gift of all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know that sticking out is sometimes the greatest compliment you could ever be given.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know that the world won\u2019t change if I\u2019m busy blending into the crowds and the cliques, or constantly changing myself to earn their cheers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know that being popular is terribly over-rated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I know that I am content with who I am, with where I am, and with what I have.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hope you know that too. That you aren\u2019t the same girl you used to be. That you don\u2019t have to worry about fitting in anymore. That you don\u2019t have to try so hard anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That you are free to be exactly who God created you to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That you don\u2019t have to be everyone\u2019s cup of tea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That you don\u2019t have to be anything or anyone you don\u2019t want to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You do you, friend. You do it with a smile. You do it with love. You do it with all the confidence in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You do it bright, and if it burns other people\u2019s eyes, so be it. Tell them to put on their cheap sunglasses cause it\u2019s about to get light up in here, and then just keep on shining with everything you have. Life\u2019s too short to be dim.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n