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Hey Pandas, Share A Trait Of Yours That You Used To Feel Insecure About That You Now Love (Closed)
It can be a physical or an emotional trait. The sky's the limit, just keep it appropriate, please!
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#1
My honesty.
I've been put down a lot, especially on BoredPanda, about the way I communicate.
I've recently been diagnosed with autism, and my psychologist says that it completely stops me from being able to read body language, emotional cues and subtext. This means that I can't tell when I offend people because I can't read people.
A lot of people hate me now, but I wish they'd just help me to understand.
But my honesty comes with a good side: I have an incredibly strong sense of justice and fairness. I have often stepped into situations where people have been bullied, harassed, sexually assaulted... etc, and I fight for them in any way I can.
Final score:
23points
#2
Physical traits:
- My two-toned lips
- My dark skin tone
- Rounded teeth that make My teeth look like they have gaps
- The fact that i am REALLY hairy
Emotional Traits
- My energetic/hyper personality(i used to be called annoying for it but now, i got real friends who tell me that my personality gives them energy)
It was a long journey embracing these traits. but now i'm really proud of them :D
Final score:
18points
#3
Being "too much".
I can be very intense about my interests and worldviews, which got me bullied when I was a child. Now I happily embrace it. There's nothing more soul-crushing than talking to a person with no real passions or weird interests. No, thanks. I'd rather be too much than nothing.
Final score:
15points
#4
Complimenting my guy friends. To some, it still is a little weird when a guy compliments another guy. I used to give little compliments because I genuinely felt that the person needed to hear it, but oftentimes people thought I was trying to hit on them, proceeding to ask if I was gay. I'm not, fyi, as if that's something to harass someone for in the first place.
Who knew all I needed was another guy who thought the same way as me? Now me and my friend compliment each other as well as other guys, and now people are a lot more open minded to take the compliments without feeling like they're being flirted on.
Final score:
14points
#5
My curiosity. I read up a lot and try to get as much information on stuff I was curious about. People still look at me weirdly when I state eabekm facts. Finally got to a point where I don't care and just say the things I'm interested in to people with mutual interest.
Final score:
12points
#6
My nose!! I always wanted one of those cute, perky noses. Once I realized that my nose is Roman, regal .. a statement nose .. I fell in love with it!
Final score:
12points
#7
Physically pretty much everything. I hated how I looked pretransition and now I'm really confident in my appearance. Emotionally, literally nothing lmao
Final score:
8points
#8
I've always looked young for my age. It used to be embarrassing, now in my 50s it is great!
Final score:
8points
#9
My curiosity, for starters. I'm always asking questions and reading about things that catch my interest. My looks, everything about the way I look. I'm a very self-conscious person. Still am but I feel better about myself. And my talkativeness (is that how to say it? idk) I'm quite the chatterbox with people I know, even more so with close friends. I used to think I was annoying but I've accepted that it's just me. And for everyone else, accept your insecurities. You are you, and you are amazing and beautiful
Final score:
7points
#10
My scars.
When I was a little kid, I had these horrid rashes from my wrist up to my shoulder. I scratched it until it bled, even though my Mom tried to get me to stop.
When we finally found a doctor who could help, I already had sooo many scars.
I used to be frustrated that my arms didn't tan smooth...they tan all speckled and splotchy because the scar-tissue always stays white. But now I think it's pretty awesome. Nobody else gets the fancy pattern of tanned/white because half of my skin is scar-tissue and the other half is normal.
Final score:
7points
#11
My eyes cuz they are just brown and I used to really hate that but now I’m okay with it. Also my really fluffy hair
Final score:
7points
#12
my laugh, my face, my body, my personality, my hair, my clinginess. it’d be easier to say what i’m not insecure about.
Final score:
6points
#13
i would say my weird sense of style. people make comments about it, but honestly, I don't give two flying f***s what other people think
Final score:
6points
#14
My love of reading. I read any book I can get my hands on. I thought I was a nerd. Then I found the right friends that liked reading as much as I do. Also the bow in my lips. I thought it was ugly. Now I think it’s pretty.
Final score:
6points
#16
My acne! I used to get so upset abt it but now I'm loving it bcs barely anyone else has it so I'm even more unique!!!! :)
Final score:
5points
#17
I would say my whole body-always so self conscious about it-my ex husband never had anything nice to say about me so that just made me more insecure but when we broke up & I was out there in the world of dating again after 20 years, it definitely gave me a big boost of confidence
Final score:
4points
#18
My laugh. My friend jokingly told me I sound like a hyena, and I thought that was hilarious, but I started overthinking it and I was really insecure about it for a while. I've learned to love it, though. Hyenas are cool :)
Final score:
4points
#19
my unique name. I used to hate that it was spelled weird but now I love being different -Mali
Final score:
4points
#20
My pug nose. As a kid I really believed it would grow out! The ironic thiNG is, growing up my non-biological brother used to call me Pig-Nosed Ziggy. And he had THE. EXACT. SAME. NOSE.
Final score:
4points
#21
My personality/emotional traits:
-My introversion. It took me a while to realize I was naturally withdrawn, not just because of Lockdown. And it took a while to realize that I was like that BEFORE Lockdown, too.
-My lack of reaction or emotion in situations. I used to think something was wrong with me, because I didn’t cry when we lost a family member. And my extroverted friends react and constantly are making these faces that show their emotions so well, and I just awkwardly grin to show my happiness.
Physical Traits:
-My nose. I have a hawk nose, the one that isn’t straight. It kind of goes onto a hill and then resumes the rest of the way. Really nifty for glasses, honestly. But one of my uncles once asked if I had broken it or something, and ever since then I’ve been sensitive about it and unhappy. But I need to accept that it’s the way I am and I should be happy about it. I look better with glasses anyways.
-my neck. Ever since I could read, I was bent over a book. I think this messed with my posture and only recently has it come to my attention. It makes me look so dopey T-T but I’m working on fixing it.
-My stick arms. I’m fine with them, it’s just that I’m more built everywhere else except my neck and arms and it kind of looks funny lol.
But I love my body. My soul doesn’t want any other, even if it’s more, uh, female than I’d like. But still. It gives me an excuse to wear big hoodies, which I love to wear :3 and my face… there’s other redeeming qualities that make up for some things I dislike. Overall I just think I could shed a few pounds, but then again my BMI is healthy so I don’t really know what to do lol
Final score:
4points
#22
my accent.
i used to hate the way i sound when im speaking english, and im still trying to learn to love it, but i think im getting there. i sound like some sort of mafia boss lol.
Final score:
4points
#23
I've always looked young for my age. It used to be embarrassing, now in my 50s it is great!
Final score:
3points
#24
I have a drawing talent! I used to draw dragons constantly, and as an eleven year old, I was pulling out what I now realize is some freaking AMAZING art, but my dad would brush it off and tell my to stop drawing those "f**king lizards" and do something useful. I also got nitpicked about my hair and my tendency and tap my feet when I'm anxious. A few years later, I love these things, and I'm much more confident - despite what my dad may think.
Final score:
3points
#25
My curiosity of learning. I was always made fun of because I wanted to learn about everything as a little kid. My teachers would chastise me when I went off script by asking questions (only later found out they were in the class like 3 months down the road.)
I would devour knowledge and due to a law that came out in Florida when i was in elementary school we had to wait for the slowest child to learn the subject before we moved on. I never did my homework because i would gather all the knowledge in class and test time i would always get 90%+ scores.
It made me hugely self-conscious and i was constantly getting yelled at because i never did my homework. I showed knowing the topic through my amazing test grades and still got yelled at constantly.
I made it through highschool and was promised i would get credits for teaching a course as an elective as the school didn't have anything and it was my passion, computers, i was self taught (after learning MSDos with my father) and when it came day to graduate my last year i was told i was missing a credit and summer school was only half a credit so i would have to do another year for half a credit. I noped out, got my GED with zero study and passed easily.
Now a days I actually find my craving for knowledge to be great. It's helped so much and i love it but it's also painful as i remember all the stress i heartache i had to endure because the only person who knew my level of learning was me and at every turn as a kid i was stifled and chastised, not cultivated and the only thing i can say is teachers need to recognize this and support this curiosity in learning.
Its a bitter sweet victory as I've learned so much on my own of computers, hardware and software, sciences, art, psychology, vehicle maintenance. I am self taught and my life has been enriched. My childhood still causes me depression and anxiety and that all could have been avoided.
Final score:
3points
#26
My independence. I’m often alone but rarely lonely.
I thought I was somehow broken in my 20s and 30s. Everyone else found their soul mate (often more than just one over time) as I watched the tadpoles in my pond grow legs, surprise themselves by hopping out of the water (the only environment they’d ever known) and into a new world. On their own.
At 66 now, I have memories of four continents, four languages learned, three of them largely forgotten. I’ve hiked the Andes with a shaman, sledded 10km down one of the Alps near Davos on my belly on a plastic red sled, lived (and played in) an unswept WWII mine field across the street from our house in the early 1960s (what was my mother thinking?? — that she had more kids) near Koln, Germany, explored icy black beaches in hurricane winds in Iceland,, experienced the beauty of both the dry and wet seasons near Mumbai in India, stood at the precipice of a volcano in Costa Rica and many more.
I wouldn’t give up any of it. I’ve had a good run. And I’ve still got all my fingers and toes.
I met lots of people along the way.
Don’t let “too expensive” or “not enough time” or “too scary” keep you from exploring what’s over the next hill. Go on the cheap, quit your job, go now because the world we live in (like the one I lived in) will be gone soon.
Final score:
3points
#27
I used to hate my eyes and hair because to be pretty I should have blonde hair and blue eyes, right? Nah, I love my hair and my eyes, they’re both light brown/hazel and they make me think of the woods and outdoors, which fits me well.
Final score:
3points
#28
How much I love animals! I used to think it was because I'm an only child, but now 🤷♂️
Final score:
3points
#29
How laid back I've always been. It takes a lot to make me angry and lash out, and I'm far more comfortable with alternate ways of living, people, etc. than most of those around me. I can see multiple perspectives.
I've been accused of "standing for nothing", "indecisive", "a people pleaser", "unemotional (this one during arguments)", etc.
This is just... me. I don't blow up at a moments notice. I DO feel emotion, strongly, and I feel anxiety and stress. I feel a full range of emotions, but even when they're riding me, for some reason, I just keep as calm as I can.
I tend to fall apart "later"... ugh.
I can see and understand different perspectives, so I can take a number of positions during discussions or arguments. People don't seem to like that. They don't seem to understand that you DO have your own lines in the sand, but that you're open to listening and learning and having discussions that doesn't drop into the pit of name calling, yelling, etc.
I dunno. I'm not a black and white kinda person. I see the gray, from end to end, and I embrace it. Taking situations, people, events, on an "as is" basis rather than painting everything over with a broad brush.
In my experience, people don't like that, but I just keep being me.
Final score:
2points
#30
One of my ex girlfriends used to criticize anytime I sang anything and it took almost a decade to feel comfortable singing in front of people, now I love to sing even if the music is only in my head.
Final score:
2points
#31
Physical trait:
I am VERY tall and I used to get bullied A LOT!
I'm usually the tallest person in my classes, but I've learned to accept that, and that it's a part of me that makes me unique.
Plus it helps with some of my hobbies, like for instance, I'm about the same speed as my dad when he runs (and he's fast). And I'm great at swimming. Now I have friends that make me feel good about my tallness.
Emotional/Personality trait:
I'm an introvert and really timid and a bit distrustful and I have a lot of trouble making friends, however, that's helped me in a lot of situations.
For one, it's helped me stay away from unsafe/dangerous people because it takes me two months (at the minimum) to trust someone, and usually, they show you their "true colors" by then.
Final score:
2points
#32
I am a recovering alcoholic. I used to resent the fact that i am like this. As i have stayed sober and matured i have seen that my cure for this disease is to improve who i am on the inside.
To keep it simple.
I have to change who i am on the inside in order to stay sober.
Maturity does not mean boring.
POOP is still a funny word
Final score:
2points
#33
My willingness to argue with people. Sometimes it helps a lot while other times it makes my life hell
Final score:
1point
#34
I'm low down the list, but MY HAIR. If any of you guys have seen me post pics of my hair before, it's VERY curly and frizzy, and if it gets combed/brushed when it's dry, it poofs into Cousin Itt. When I was a kid, I got mocked and teased really badly for my hair. I got called "Chia Pet" and worse things that really don't bear repeating. Kids would sometimes pull my hair or cut pieces off with scissors and then say they didn't believe it was real. It also used to take my mom hours to comb out my hair, and it always hurt terribly, as my mom was not gentle with the knots/tangles. Now I'm an adult and EVERYONE tells me how jealous they are of my curly hair and how they wish they had curly hair like mine (haha no u don't.) But I've made my peace with my hair and now I love it XD I'll add some fun photos in the comments XD
Final score:
1point
#35
My ASD. It is really difficult to deal with other people and their emotions. I wish they'd all just be deadpan like me. Much easier to deal with. Anyway. I've learnt to just emulate the style of speech and body language of people around me and then they all feel comfortable. Meantime I know it's all fakery.
Final score:
1point
#36
Telling a short story of my day, and the response is "uh, huh"
Final score:
0points
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