October Café Chat: Confidence

Hi pretties!

I’m officially home from NYC Bridal Fashion Week and even though I wish I could have stayed forever, I’m happy to get back into the swing of things! I was so excited to meet back up with my blogging tribe, Tessa ( Simply Tess ), Paige ( Where The Wildfowers Are ) and Alyssa ( Pretty, Young and Motivated, which was previously known as Somewhere Between Vogue and Van Gogh ). We were all eager for the second month of our Café Chat series not only because we were going to Robinettes Apple Orchard, but because we each walk away feeling so inspired by the conversations we have.  For the month of October, Tessa chose to discuss a topic that I’m sure many women can relate to; confidence.

When she first asked us all what made us feel confident, I have to say, I really needed time to reflect. I struggled with the idea of the perfect body image for years because it was so hard to feel beautiful in a society that  is constantly criticizing women for being  too skinny, too thick, too tall, too short, too everything. I spent my junior high and  high school years feeling so bad about myself for not looking a certain way, until one day I decided to stop listening to that tiny voice in my head that kept bringing me down. I may have flaws, but when I look in the mirror each day now, I see a strong, independent woman who is doing everything to chase her dreams and that’s what makes me feel confident. Do I have the perfect body? No, but am I enough? Hell yes. I’m more than enough.

As the girls and I continued to munch on our delicious pumpkin donuts and sip our cider, I thought more about this horrible habit I used to have of comparing myself to everyone else. Even dumb things like Instagram likes bothered me. I always felt so petty too trying to define myself  by the amount of likes I had or the number of people that followed me, but then I realized that in  order to feel comfortable in my own skin, I needed to stop measuring every aspect of myself to the women  I saw in magazines and on TV. They were beautiful, but so was I in my own way. I just had to allow myself to see it. If you’re struggling with self confidence, instead of focusing on the negatives, try giving yourself at least three compliments each day. I do this every morning and I promise it helps!

It was so great getting to spend time with my favorite girls. I swear, we always end up having the best conversations and Tessa couldn’t have picked a more perfect place to meet up! Going to an apple orchard during the Fall season is one of my favorite traditions, especially when there’s pumpkin donuts involved.

Feel free to comment below with any advice you have on building confidence, as well as your favorite  Fall traditions! I would love to read them 🙂 Also, don’t forget to check out Simply Tess, Where The Wildflowers Are, and Pretty, Young & Motivated to see what my blogging tribe has to say!

xoxo