There are some people in this world that possess charisma, charm and the ability to attract the attention of the masses. I'm not one of those people. I am an awkward introvert who avoids large crowds and struggles with self disclosure. Long story short, I'm not someone that you would consider to be very popular. You won't see a large following on my social media accounts. You won't see many viewers on my channel or blog. You won't see many hearts or thumbs up on my posts and in a culture where attention, likes, follows and overall popularity are valued, it can seem pretty defeating to not be one of the "popular" ones.
I know you are probably wondering how this post is supposed to be inspirational because right about now it probably seems a bit self-loathing and self-deprecating but I promise you, I have a very encouraging point. If you are a person like myself who is kind of a square peg that does not quite fit into the in crowd or veers off from the crowd, this message is for you.
There are so many people whose self worth and value is dependent upon how many people "like" what they are doing. We have become so accustomed to doing things for the sake of being "seen" or "noticed". We are so accustomed to needing to be seen that we can't even eat food nowadays without posting a "selfie" of our meal. While I think it is great that social media brings us closer, I also think that it makes some of us feel more alone. It makes us feel as if we are not as worthy if no one is following us or validating what we are doing. It is a culture that it easy to get lost in.
I once had a conversation with someone who grew fearful of sharing their ability because of an experience where people did not respond to their work in a receptive way. This experience caused them to not want to share their talent with the world out of fear of it not being accepted.
I use to be an avid singer, now whether or not I was any good is dependent upon the listener but I loved to sing. I even formed a musical group with my cousins and we sang at family events. I wrote songs and found so much joy in singing. Throughout the years as I allowed others to hear my voice, I began to listen less to the supportive and positive feedback and more to the negative feedback and I became self conscious of my voice. I became so self conscious that I stopped singing. I gave up something that brought me joy. I still feel very self conscious when singing in front of others so I rarely do.
We all have a lot of thoughts that prevent us from doing what we love or prevent us from taking chances that could improve our lives. Some of these thoughts could be "I'm not good enough", "I'm not smart", "I'm no pretty enough" or "I'm not popular". It is important for us to challenge those thoughts because those thoughts are barriers to your potential and barricades to your happiness.
If you have a gift, a talent, a hobby, a dream or anything that brings you joy, don't let your limiting thoughts or beliefs prevent you from pursuing what you are deserving of. You don't have to have a multitude of followers to pursue your dream. Everyone does not have to like you in order for you to be great. You don't have to have a million viewers or a thousand likes on a post in order to prove your value. There is only one like that ultimately counts and that is the like that you give yourself.
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