If you constantly outsource your happiness you're robbing yourself.
If you constantly need other people’s approval, you’re giving away the most important voice you have: yours.
I grew up 100 lbs overweight. The picture on the left is me when I started college. I struggled with weight my entire life but never my self-confidence.
I was always heavily involved in clubs, was Student Body Officer in High School, played sports, and loved everyone along the way regardless of my silhouette.
According to society and cultural norms growing up, I should have been wildly insecure, inferior, and self-loathing.
How could I be 100 lbs. overweight and still love myself and who I was becoming?
Honestly, my mother.
Growing up she would write me little notes now again to remind me she loved me and without fail she would focus on:
My character
My values
My integrity
My wit
My heart
You see, growing up I loved life more than most.
I didn’t see myself as this person who was unlovable because of my silhouette.
What mattered most my mother instilled in me.
What mattered most was loving the journey, my fellow travelers, and all the bumps and bruises along the way; the life lessons that made me who I am.
Even after losing 100 lbs., my confidence remained the exact same because I built my confidence from the inside out.
You can, too.
I am profoundly thankful to my mother, her wisdom, and her God given gift of seeing beyond the shell. She taught me to love life, to be gentle (with a backbone), and look for ways to serve.
100 lbs. later and I’m relishing life and all it has to offer.