This past week, I shared on Instagram how I was out and someone told me the red lipstick I was wearing was “too bold.” I shared how in that moment I felt embarrassed, unconfident, and down-right ugly. It was a turning point for me. This woman had taken something away from me that I loved and felt beautiful in. In a matter of a moment, I questioned whether I should wear red lipstick again. After having a mini meltdown on the way home, I realized that this lady did not get to decide what does or doesn’t make me feel pretty.

I’ll be honest; I did not expect this post receive a loud response. I figured so many people would see this as a pathetic sob story. But, I had SO many women reach out to me with both concern and encouragement.

What I’ve realized is that SO many of us struggle with the same issue of longing to be ourselves but still striving to meet the needs and wants of the society around us. If you’re like me, you often feel alone in this battle. It seems like everyone else has it all going on, and you just can’t seem to get yourself pulled together.

Here’s what I know:

1. No one has their life all entirely together.
   I want to enter in alllllllll the praise hands, because this is SO true. I am sure the lady who criticized me, didn’t have her life all together. However, I let her louder voice cripple my self-confidence.
2. You are not alone.
   As I scrolled through all of the encouragement left on my post, I realized that there was a much larger team of women behind me than I imagined. I literally started crying as I read each of the sweet comments left for me. I had NO CLUE that so many people cared about me in such a small instance. Chances are, you have a much larger support team that you can sometimes see.
3. We’ve all been there.
   When this lady called me out, I felt lonely and embarrassed. While it’s ridiculous to admit, I felt like I was the only one who had this happen to them. However, as I read each comment on my post, I wondered what inspired each woman to leave a remark. My guess, they too have been hurt unexpectedly.

So where does this lead us?

I want to challenge you to stay true to your “red lipstick.” Whatever it is in your life that makes you feel incredible and confident, I want you to stay true to it. Maybe you like a different kind of music than most, you dream of a different lifestyle than those around you, you wear a little bit different of clothes, or you carry yourself differently. Whatever the case may be, stick to it.

Another thing, you can’t control what others will say to you, but you can control what you say to and about them. You can’t control if someone is going to tear you down for your special quirk, but you can choose how you respond to their comments.

I’m eager to hear any tips or tricks you might have in being true to yourself. I’d love for you to share your thoughts in the comments, below!

xoxo,