Loving Yourself is a Lifelong Process - disabled or not
Growing up my childhood was challenging enough without the added difficulty (or at least what I thought at the time) of being disabled. My family was poor and there were issues of alcoholism and abuse. Even with those barriers my mother always knew I had to learn to do things for myself, from when she told doctors she was not willing to amputate my arms (talk about drastic) to giving me a stuffy that had buttons and laces so I could practice. I will always be grateful for that, but the one thing I wish I learned early on is that loving yourself and self confidence is a tricky thing for everybody, not just me, though I had a physical difference that jumped right at you.
During elementary school and most of high school I thought wearing a long sleeve jacket at all times would hide my disability and avoid stares and questions. A) it didn't hide anything and b) man was it hot during the summer, so in my last year of high school I threw out the jacket, and started piece by piece learning to love myself and allow the questions. I am not going to lie, I am now 34 and it hasn't been until the last few years that I really understood what this meant and can truly say I love myself.
Inspiring Everyone to feel Confident & Beautiful
When you live in a world where physical differences aren't celebrated, but rather hidden or ignored, how would it be possible for people not to stare, ask questions or think you are unable to accomplish things on your own. I now look at it as "how can I teach someone to look past the physical". I recently started with Senegence (amazing makeup and skincare) as an Independent Distributor...and I am WAY out of my comfort zone. My "job" is to wear makeup and help people feel beautiful, and most importantly put myself out there for them to see me loving the products (and I do LOVE the products). The only way to celebrate yourself and to be celebrated by others is to put yourself out there, embrace the discomfort and truly believe that who you are, inside and out, is enough - because let me tell you, it IS enough. The more "regular" people embrace differences in the open - tv, movies, modelling, fashion, workplaces etc. - the better we all are. Understanding and compassion are fundamental human emotions and we need to work together to have those experiences, the world is such a beautiful place when we love ourselves and each other.
I hope to inspire anyone, disabled or not, who struggle with self-confidence. Everyone's idea of how to feel Confident and Beautiful is different than someone else's and I would be honored to help you "Find Your Beautiful".
xo Becky
