Be-YOU-tiful {Practicing Good Habits}

A woman's self worth can by determined by so many variables. How we, as women, perceive others by defining ourselves has a lot to do with our own self worth. We know who we are, what we love, and what we stand for, but we often forget this tried and true definition of ourselves when we begin to consider others' falliable opinions of our worth. Self-worth can be determined by just about anything. For example, whether or not we're in a committed relationship, what we scored on our last math exam, or (many would say, most important) how many likes we get on our Instagram posts. And, as much as we all cherish our social media, I feel that it's safe to say true confidence and social media simply do not go hand in hand most of the time.

Social media, namely Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook are truly addictive. The  compliments we receive on a cute post with our love interests, or the plethora of likes we  attain on a photo with our most beautiful sorority sisters often cause our egos to swell.  Conversely, when we are sitting at home stressing about our math homework or, even  worse, are experiencing utter boredom due to a lack of plans, we experience  overwhelming jealousy upon viewing these posts that we feel of which we should,  somehow, be a part.

However, we often fail to consider one of the fundamentals of social media,  the one my mother always reminded me of in high school—no one posts about the  negative, unfortunate, or boring occurrences in his or her life! The girls who get 300­ some-odd likes (are you really friends with all 300 people?) don’t post on Instagram about the horrible  fight they had with their best friend last week, or how they’re waiting by their phones for  one measly text from the guy they’ve been interested in for weeks, who obviously has  other things on his mind. They, instead, post about the fun they’re having out at dinner or  partying with their closest girlfriends.

This is a wise tactic, but believe me, every single human being has a bad day every once in awhile.. Even Beyoncé. Therefore, let's not fall into these predictable patterns of comparison- THEY ARE THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL and the murderer of confidence.

We each are beautiful, inside and out. This is a lame, cliché, overdone concept but  we somehow STILL have a hard time accepting this fact of life! Each of us was perfectly,  thoughtfully created out of love and, here’s the kicker, WE WERE MADE DIFFERENT  ON PURPOSE. I mean, hello, are we forgetting about our fingerprints? So what  we’re shorter or have bigger teeth or curlier hair than the girls who are sitting to our right and left—this was not an accident,  ladies. We aren’t all supposed to be identical twins to Jessie James­Decker, so why are  we behaving so naively?  Let’s make a vow—starting now, comparison is off­limits! No if’s, and’s, or but’s!

Let's all make it a point of focus on and, more importantly, be grateful for each of our own beautiful defining qualities. Let's practice positive self-talk and tell ourselves "This is how I am supposed to be." Let's reconsider our definitions of self, and ultimately how we determine our self-worth. Let's forget about how many likes our ex-boyfriend's new girlfriend gets, and remember that no one in his or her right mind posts photos of the bad stuff in his or her life. Let's remember to take all forms of social media with a grain of salt, keeping in mind that there are much, much more important things in life that we could be fretting over (for example, world hunger or how in the world I'm going to pass any of my classes at this point in the semester). Let's throw our perceptions of how others view us out the window and practice loving ourselves by our own self-definitions of what makes us beautiful. And let's finally feel beautiful BEING OURSELVES while our confidence flourishes!

Written by Guest Blogger, Carlisle Sandy; Edited by UNA Panhellenic

Be-YOU-tiful {Be Yourself}

Being yourself isn’t something you always think of when you think of about being in sorority. People tend to think girls in a sorority all wear the same things, think the same thoughts and are all just housewives in training. Well I am here to tell you that is not what being in a sorority is like, even though I thought the exact same thing as I went through recruitment. Now looking back on, it I think of how wrong I was. I have learned not only so much about myself but also about my sorority and how we are everything but a stereotype.

We are a group of women who are leaders on and off campus, in our communities, and we are scholars. We encourage each other to go out for all kinds of different things. We study with each other and support our own philanthropy along with other philanthropies. Being in a sorority has given me the confidence to step out of my comfort zone and step up and become a leader within my chapter. When I was a freshman going through recruitment I never thought I would end up holding so many different positions in my organization that all taught me something different about myself.

Being a member of an all female organization you would think we would all just be mean to one another but it really is just the opposite. My sisters encourage me to be the best version of myself and to never let anything or anyone get me down. They have been by my side on my best and worst days and never asked me to be anything but myself. That is what I think be-YOU-tiful means. It means to always be true to yourself, and like I said I have never been asked to change myself, I’ve only been encouraged to be myself.

Having that kind of that encouragement is important to all women, especially in today’s society. Women are so critical on themselves and having that support system of women always telling you to shoot for the stars is so important. I am never afraid to do something because I know even if I fail I have my sisters to pick me up and dust me off and tell me to just try again. I have never felt like I couldn’t do something or that I wasn’t supported in the decisions I was making, because I knew I always had my sisters there to count on.

I am truly blessed to be a part of an organization full of such supportive women, who always make me feel like being myself is okay and that I should never be anything but that.

Post Written by Guest Blogger, Hallie Mitchell; Edited by UNA Panhellenic