Securing Insecurities

What insecurities do we face in life and how can we overcome them?

Written By: Merrilyn Teng
Illustrations By: Merrilyn Teng

Since  young, I’ve always believed that we all have many insecurities. But at that young age, our worries were simpler – like if we had the latest “country flag” eraser to show off. Nowadays, our insecurities are much more complicated.

The biggest one would be body image issues that we have with ourselves with thoughts such as, “Is my belly not flat enough?” or “Would I look fat if I wore this?” This then leads to dieting regimes or working out to lose weight. While doing those two things aren’t necessarily bad, it does take a toll on your body if you do it to the extreme and not look after yourself, so your health ends up being worse. 

Aside from image insecurities, we face plenty of other issues too. Academic-wise, we’re not sure if this is the best that we can do and if we’re up to the standard as compared to our peers. We also tend to doubt our own abilities which may affect how we perform certain activities in the end. 

Even the relationships that we form in our lives are riddled with insecurities. Do my friends secretly not like me? Am I good enough for my partner? We would often have these thoughts that we keep to ourselves which builds a sense of paranoia within ourselves. Oftentimes, these insecurities aren’t properly communicated to the other party which then leads to more misunderstandings. 

It’s hard to tell someone close to you to stop feeling so insecure all the time, especially if he or she overthinks things, leading to further insecurities. It’s good  to  note that having a little bit more confidence in yourself goes a long way. Our flaws will always be there and though sometimes there may be solutions to get rid of them, many times, there aren’t. So it really starts with yourself, by slowly accepting that it makes it who you are. 

If you’re likely to overthink about certain issues, just know that other people aren’t thinking about you as much as you think, as they’re preoccupied with their own lives too. So don’t be too caught up on other people’s opinions either. If you have any worries, proper communication with the other party is vital in order to prevent any further conflicts.