Finding My Voice!

     When I was growing up I was always judged incorrectly as being quiet or anti-social; then as an adult to some I appeared to be a "snob", stuck-up or even a goody two-shoes.  After finding this information out from third parties I became very offended because that couldn't have been further from the truth.  What was really going on in my life was that I was suffering from very low self-esteem.  Low self-esteem is a horrible emotion to carry around!  When you have negative thoughts about yourself, they are usually followed by negative actions.  I used to watch other individuals speak up, young ladies that were full of confidence and say to myself that I wish I could be like that.  However after attempting to be like someone other than myself, I ended up having a passive aggressive attitude that didn't work well at all.
    My past was full of many situations of going up and down emotionally and never really having a positive impact on the people I was around or in the different activities that I was involved in.  I would try to do things to fit in because I felt that if I fit in, then all was great with the world.  It was not until I began to appreciate my uniqueness and embrace those differences that I began to love myself and my self-esteem began to improve.  I've learned that young girls also need the validation of their fathers because it will set the tone for the type of boys and men that they will be involved with.  It will also reflect if they will accept negative relationships and view them as the norm, or if they will be involved in healthy relationships because they will not accept anything less.
    Once a young lady has found her confidence, she will also find her voice and will hopefully learn that she doesn't have to be malicious, angry or mean spirited to have a voice.  She will be able to speak up for herself, be involved and active in her own life and take control of her actions.  As females it is so important to know who we are and to have a voice because if we don't we can get lost in the media and the world's view of how a woman should look, behave or interact with other people and their role as human beings.  I'm glad that I found my voice and as an Inspirational Speaker, I pray that I help other people to find their voices!