#unapologetic

Happy Monday!

I want to preface this by saying that you may have noticed a change in my posts recently.  I feel a little preach-y when I write posts like this, but these are messages that have deep meaning for me and I believe that more women need these messages of empowerment in their lives.  I grew up with strong female role models, but nobody came out and told me any of this.  Nobody told me not to apologize for being myself.  Nobody told me that I am the CEO of my life and that I get to determine who I let into it.  Nobody told me that I am enough.  Not in so many words anyway.

I'm going to try to keep up with HWF posts, but there will be some empowerment posts sprinkled in too, as I have found that this is something I am passionate about.  These are messages that I want to share with women.  These are messages that I want to share with my daughters.  These are the messages I wish I knew about before I turned 26!

So here goes.....

I used to apologize ALL the time. For things that were my fault. For things that weren't my fault. For things I could control. For things I had no control over whatsoever. For having an opinion. I used to apologize for ALL of these things.

I'm an emotional person. I cry over little things. I'm flawed. I get overly excited about things. I get passionate, overly competitive, and can be proud to a fault. I say weird things that make no sense. I'm a little weird and socially awkward. I believe that my morals and values should not be compromised because someone else does not have the same ones. Not anymore.

I'm not saying that I run around pissing people off and giving them the finger, but I've learned to not apologize for being myself. I still catch myself apologizing for stuff all the time in the spirit of being polite and to not ruffle feathers.

But for the most part, I've learned to be unapologetic about who I am as a person. It has helped me be more authentic in my day-to-day interactions and has made me stronger in the face of adversity.

You should never have to apologize for being yourself. So don't! Be unapologetically YOU.

-Anne