“C” Stands for Confidence, not Conceit

C Stands for Confidence, not Conceit

Confidence: “a feeling of self-assurance arising form one’s appreciation of one’s own abilities or qualities,” better known these days as egotism. Today’s society has been busied with debates about several social and cultural issues, such as feminism, sexism, and rape culture.

But it seems like the issue of insecurity has been completely overlooked. Confidence is overrated now, and self-doubt has become a social norm. Even accepting a compliment can get you dubbed as “self-centered”  or “big-headed.” It has become commonplace for people, today’s youth in particular, to deny or disagree with the compliments they’re given instead of accepting them.

Take selfies, for example. A selfie is actually pretty vain, when you think about it.  You take a picture of yourself at any given time, and post it on social networking sites for the entire world to see. By posting a selfie on Instagram, for instance, it can be assumed that the reason you posted the picture was because you felt confident about the way you looked in it. Needless to say, if you post a selfie and someone comments on the picture with something like “You’re so pretty,” replying with denial is phony and fabricated.

However, there are many people who really do lack confidence and are self-conscious about the way they look or do things, and that’s okay. It’s actually normal to doubt yourself sometimes. But, fishing for compliments by doubting your skills or appearance isn’t. It’s not a sin to feel comfortable in your own skin. So what if you think you look great in hats, and so what if you think your dimples are adorable? It’s our right as people to be happy with ourselves. Confidence shouldn’t be frowned upon, it should be encouraged.