How self-love changed my life

By SHELBY SHAW

Sheridan High School Student

Editor’s Note: The Sheridan Student Column is brought to readers by Sheridan High School’s 10th grade English class, taught by Abby Williams.

This probably seems like such a cliché title and topic, but the impact it has on my life is grand. The definition of self-love is: regards for one’s own well-being and happiness. I am a 16-year-old girl, and as you could imagine, sometimes loving myself isn’t the easiest. I have had a long road from where I am now, and it has matured me in such a way that it changed the way I view others and my outlook on life. Let me tell you a little something about self-love.

In middle school I really struggled with who I was. I dyed my hair multiple colors of the rainbow and wore lots of eyeliner. I did these things because I was struggling with an overwhelming sadness that seemed to follow me until high school. I wanted to stand out so people would perceive me as a strong and confident woman. I led most people to believe these things and some still believe them to this day. I thought I wanted my world to end until I hit the summer before my freshman year.

The thing that saved me most in life was basketball. I went to my first summer workout with my basketball team. I met some very strong women who continue to impact who I am today. It was those people who impacted my views on myself. I started to become more confident and reverse the damage I had done in middle school. By the time freshman year hit I was feeling a lot better about myself and thought I was ready to tackle the world. My self-love was at a peak.

I had always struggled with the way I looked. Especially with my teeth: every beautiful girl I saw had these perfectly straight teeth and I definitely don’t. I would try to hide my smile because of the embarrassment it caused me. Like I said, freshman year was a peak but I still struggled.

During my freshman year I decided to become a cheerleader, which challenged my biggest insecurities. The summer before my sophomore year I started my cheer practices and had basketball workouts every day. I was really letting myself be confident. Once the football season started I had to cheer with a smile on my face and tell myself that it was okay to not only smile but to mess up in front of stands full of people. I don’t regret that one bit.

I am currently a sophomore and my first cheer season was the best thing I have done with my life since basketball. During my basketball season I have grown so confident and loved my game. The love I had for myself had grown so much since last season. Seems a little self-absorbed, don’t you think? That didn’t matter to me though, because I didn’t go around talking about how great I was: it was my own battle. I found a lot of self-love through sports, and they pushed me to love my flaws but also to improve on them. Right now in life, my self-love and confidence is pretty great.

This is probably a cliché topic and you may have gotten bored along the way, but I’m glad you stuck around to hear my story of self-love and how I learned to love myself. I hope someone reads this and decides to love themself too. I’m glad I shared my story. I want to encourage others to love themselves the way I do because it can really change your life. If you only take one thing away from this I hope it is that you should be confident in yourself no matter what. And that is how self-love changed my life.