First
of all, I'd like to thank everyone reading my blog for the beautiful feedback
regarding my last post, it was really touching.
One of the most important things that I learned this
year was that one has to embrace
his own awesomeness. Even though I consider myself a “girly” girl –most of
my closest friends are girls; in 2013 I had the wonderful chance to spend much
more time with guys. Of course it included lots of food and sport terminology
that I didn’t always fully understand, but it was worth it.
The
one thing, however, that I found extremely fascinating was men’s mastery of
self-love and confidence. Unlike most women that I know, men don’t give into
the temptation to pull themselves apart, painstakingly criticizing.
They are more honest yet less hard on themselves.
It
feels like every day they wake up, draw themselves to the bathroom, stand in
front of the mirror and say, “Dude, you’re awesome!” They might evenhave a
Barney Stinson inspired poster hanging on their wall (yes, it’s you!)
To
give a real life example, less than a month ago, I was visiting a friend who’s
doing an Erasmus semester in Augsburg, a city in South Germany that’s
relatively close to the Smurfs village where I study. It was a cloudy and rainy
morning –ok, noon, let’s say we decided we needed a beauty sleep the night
before- and we found shelter in a tiny, cozy creperie somewhere in the city
center. The ceiling was covered with mirror so it was almost impossible not to
look up and catch your reflection looking you from above. Before I had time to comment
on the state of my hair –the slightly wet, definitely messy but not sexy at
all- and my reindeer red nose, he said out loud (thankfully in Greek), “Damn,
you’re a looker, my boy. You are the best.”
 |
| Le me in Augsburg, November 2013. |
Yes,
he was talking to himself.
Why
can't we, girls, do the same? Acknowledge our unique awesomeness and embrace it?
Even celebrate it? Most guys are pretty nerdy deep down and they –wait for it-
love it; they have a “take me, baby, or leave me” attitude about it.
Sometimes it might seem hard to do so. But if you're lucky enough, there will be always people around you who are somehow able to see what you are missing and shake you up. Keep them close and try to see yourselves though their eyes.
F.
yep. I feel ya. But you know guys draw their self-confidence from little achievements. like burping.
ReplyDeleteor "yeah this t-shirt is smelly, but not that smelly that I'd actually have to wash it" (this is a success for a guy.)
And for example the way others treat you when you are outstaging everyone. If a guy sticks out of the crowd, the other guys applaud him, praise him, tell him that he's got balls! If a girl sticks out, the other girls are more likely to gossip about her. We can't be like men, because our focus lies in superficial things.