Project Confidence: Accepting What You Can't Change

Image: weheartit.com

Recently I had a few weeks off work, during which I started to feel quite a bit better about myself in terms of my personality and confidence levels. However, since going back I have found that I have been comparing myself to others quite a bit which is never a good thing.
For the longest time, I have always wanted to be a certain type of person and it has only been recently that I have actually started to actively do something about it. That being said, I have realised that changes I want to make can be classified into three different categories.

Project Confidence: Being a Lady in a "Man's" Job

I don’t know what I would class myself as; I wouldn’t say I’m a feminine girl but I also wouldn’t say I’m a tomboy. I’m not gawky but then I’m not dainty. I’m not refined but I’m not impolite. I am ME. And at the moment, I’m not OK with that.

As part of Project Confidence, I have been thinking a lot lately about who I am and who I want to be. While I have a rough idea of some of the characteristics that I want to display and some of the characteristics that I possess but want to abolish, I don’t have a clear idea in my head about who I want to be: I think that may come later as I learn more about myself. That being said, I definitely want to express my feminine side. However I face one major problem:

MY JOB.

"Your butt looks really good!" - Why we value the opinion of strangers more than friends

I was at work yesterday when two of my colleagues complimented my derriere. It was quite spontaneous but they both seemed impressed and said that it looked really good; one of them even asked if I did squats to achieve my physique (does once two weeks ago count?). It made me blush a little as I am not used to that sort of attention but I found that I quite liked the compliments I was receiving. I don't particularly work out and while my boyfriend frequently tells me that my butt looks good, I find it hard to believe him - possibly because I think he is bias due to being in a relationship with me. However, when my colleagues said the same, I appreciated the comment from them more than from the person who loves me.

So, it made me think: why do we value the opinions of strangers more than the people who love us?

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