Appreciate your humble beginnings

When I was a teenager, I was incredibly shy and much rather preferred to be a wallflower. Back then I simply drifted through other people's lives, never leaving a lasting impression or any signifigant signs of my existence.

Being self-conscious about your appearance is such a typical teenage stereotype, but unfortunately it was something I suffered from. I hated everything about myself. My looks, my personality, my life. Eventually it got so bad that I started to avoid seeing myself in the mirror and getting my picture taken.

Seeing myself in photos back then was a severely painful experience. I stood out like a sore thumb, and my teenage brain automatically scewed that image of myself into looking ugly. This was the case with most pictures I was in.

I remember cropping myself out of photos taken with friends as well as deleting vacation photos in which I made an appearance. My mom eventually took notice of the missing photos and started keeping a watchful eye over the camera.

As the years passed, I addressed my self-esteem issues and started viewing the world from a more mature point of view.

Going through old photos of myself from 5-8 years ago made me realise something very important. The impression I had of myself around that time was completely wrong. It was like I was seeing myself from someone else's point of view for the first time. I didn't stand out like a sore thumb; I was actually a relatively normal kid. I always thought there was something wrong with me, but in fact, I was just too obsessed with my flaws.

Appreciate your humble beginnings. Time changes everything, including yourself.