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Feeling Insecure? Me Too!
Just over a week ago I chipped my front tooth. It was already chipped and repaired years ago, so it was the covering that had been damaged and not the actual tooth, thankfully.
But, it really amplified an insecurity of mine, which is my teeth, and my smile.
I've spent a lot of the last week or so thinking about my insecurities, how we feel insecure, how we behave with/around them, and that's inspired this months blog post.
For full context, I had an accident in primary school where I was pushed in the playground and fell down, biting onto a concrete step. It was horrible and I think I still have 4 baby teeth because of it. Then, in secondary school, I got hit in the face whilst playing in goal during a hockey game and chipped my front tooth, which is the one I refer to above. Finally, I didn't do well with brushing my teeth when I was younger, usually just once a day, and we all know it should be twice a day with some extra cleaning etc along the way.
Add all that up and unfortunately I've felt insecure about my teeth and my smile for quite a while. It's horrible when you really think about it, being insecure of your own smile. Psychological studies show people respond more calmly and positively to smiles, but if I do smile, it's usually with my mouth closed. This is the same for having pictures taken, when out on first dates especially, interviewing/meeting new people etc....
We all feel insecure about something, usually more than one something. Most commonly I think it's our looks, weight or appeal (I'm thinking of social media content, likes, and all that fun here). But it does extend to so many things, and a lot of things we're not consciously aware of too!
What can we do about our insecurities? I don't have all the answers here but I'm always focussed on normalising the fact that we're all human, that none of us are perfect. So for me, my first thought is to embrace our insecurities however we can. Yes I don't have the best smile, but I try to be a very positive person and I can't do that hiding my smile!
I also find when I talk about the things I feel insecure about (this list gets pretty long sometimes) with people that I trust, the response is usually very positive. Which leads me onto my next thought around insecurities....
This thought is that, things we are insecure about are usually not as bad as we think we are. People realistically aren't paying much attention to the fact that I have a chipped tooth currently, I just need to believe that! But with anything we think about, feel nervous or anxious about, it's usually not as bad as we make it out to be. Think about that for yourself, write down a few things, how you felt, and then how they played out. Compare and contrast and I wouldn't be surprised if more items on the list ended better than expected.
(We did this at our first community wellness session by the way, and I found it so valuable. So I will plug a link below for the next one)
This isn't universal, sometimes things go worse than expected. I won't pretend that hasn't happened with me. But talking about our insecurities and embracing them, takes a weight off of us, frees up mental space, and allows us to be more of our true selves.
So in the spirit of me being more embracing of my smile, here it is! (I am getting the chipped tooth fixed at some point, just very hard to find a dentist)
And here's the link for our community wellness sessions!
Hopefully see some new faces there!
Stay Positive!
Jordan - Founder