Why do we care what others think?

Listen. We ALL do it.

It's hard to not care about what others think. There's a big decision I have to make soon and the first thought/fear I had, is "What are others going to say about me? What are they going to think? What are they going to say TO me?!?!?"

First off, WHY DO I CARE.

Our lives are up to us...The paths we take and MAKE in our lives are for the best interest in OUR futures - not theirs.

I just listened to a podcast about confidence and how we all live by the saying, "Fake it until we make it." But Steven Furtick made a valid point.

Faking it until we make it, won't actually make us make it. It will break us.

Why are we placing our confidence in people? Things? Our jobs? Things and people that will never be perfect? That aren't a solid foundation to base our confidence off of?

Don't fake it. Just ask yourself what or who are you placing your confidence in?

Place it in the one who created you and knows every single detail of you inside and out - the one who has designed your future. I'm not preaching to you. In all honesty, I'm preaching to myself right now.

This is a season of becoming more self aware, confident in myself, and more confident in my God.

So many great things have happened in my life lately. 

One of them being crowned Miss Veterans Day 2019! 

In my interview, they asked me "What's one thing that has happened last year vs this year and what has it taught you?" (Something of that sort)

I will forever be proud of this answer. I was so transparent and real because I'm tired of faking it until I make it. People break. It's okay to break. It's okay to not be okay. I'm tired of being f a k e.

I shared how last year, I was not confident in who I was and that I was falling back into depression, filled with anxiety, comparing myself to others and just not happy with myself and where I was in life.

That taught me how to love myself 

a g a i n. 

Flaws included.

It taught me that comparison is the thief of joy, we're all human and I can't fake being confident when I'm not. That's when I need to speak up and take care of myself physically and mentally. 

I am who I am today because of breaking, because of my mistakes, because humans fail. 

I learned how to pick myself up

a g a i n. 

and press

f o r w a rd. 

And to

p e r s e v e r e. 

I wan't to leave you with a something so true and funny that Steven Furtick said.... 

"So many people take a half an hour to caption something witty under their photos and we think that's their off the cuff wittiness so we compare our "off the cuff" to their "off the cuff" when it's not even their "off the cuff!". 

Think about it, we don't know what's going on in ANYONE'S life. Yet we continue to contrast and compare our lives to what we can see in theirs. 

This post is a reminder for me to not care what others think because, we're all a like in some way or another. We need to focus on bettering ourselves, not what others think or trying to live up to other people.

This is 

m y 

life. 

This is 

y o u r 

life. 

Lets take the power back, people.

If you need to vent at anytime or just confide in someone, I'm here. Fearless Movement has an app now available in your Apple APP store and Google Play. There's a social wall for stories to be shared from those who have overcame hardships and how they overcame them but there is also a social wall for current hardships called - f e a r l e s s l y authentic.  

Share your story on it. I'll be sharing this. You're not alone, and we're all imperfect and that's o k a y.

xoxo,

Ashley Kulikowski

Founder and CEO of Fearless Movement

Instagram: @fearlessmovement 

Facebook: @fearlessmovementFM

Email: thefearlessmovement@gmail.com

*** To stay updated on my journey as Miss Veterans Day vying for the title of Miss New Jersey in June, follow my facebook page @MissVeteransDay2019 ***