#LoveMe Challenge | Day 3

Hello, lovelies!

Welcome to Day #3 of the #LoveMe Challenge. Hopefully you've had fun following along for the past two days; I've actually really been enjoying these daily blog posts.

So, let's get into today's prompt, shall we?

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A Word That Describes You

Lion-hearted.

(adj.) Brave and determined.

I grew up as a very shy child, hiding behind my mother's legs when new people approached to say hello to me. I so desperately wanted to be liked at school, so I tried to break out of my shell and make people laugh so that I would have friends and be popular. And I did it. I broke out of my shell and became a girl who had a few close friends, and other people envied me on the playground. I made myself seem exclusive, and gossip was always in my back pocket.

I started on a pathway that would have led to being a mean girl and nothing more.

I was always the kid who shot her hand up for every question, knowing all the answers and getting everything right. One day I got a question wrong in second grade, and then the whispers started. People loved to see the self-righteous petty girl get something wrong for once, and I was mortified. So I retreated back into myself. I still laughed and joked with my friends, but I was always on edge, thinking that I was going to be cast out of the group at any moment.

Middle school and high school were huge parts in this journey of self-discovery (cheesy title, I know), and I realized that I had let insecurity take over my life. I was gun-shy of any boy that came near me, because I never thought they could actually like me. I had crushes from afar, and my high school relationship ended partly because I so desperately needed reassurance, and I could tell he was sick of it.

It wasn't until my junior year that I really realized that I could be independent and rely on myself. I always thought I needed other people to validate me and make me who I thought I needed to be. But the girl I always wanted to be was inside me the entire time. If I want to be known for kindness and love, then that's something that's within my power to do. If I want to ask that cute guy out, I can, because I'm brave and strong, even when I don't believe it. I've always been the person to plow through the hardest projects and the worst physical challenges in gym class, so determination has always been in my blood.

The shy, insecure girl I knew in the past is gone, and I've never been happier. I've learned to be brave in the face of things I feel like I should back down from, and my determination has stuck with me even now.

I am lion-hearted.

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That is all.

Cheers,

Seana

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