Pageant Life Lesson #1- It’s OK to Not Have It All Together
Pageant week can teach you a lot about yourself and challenge you in ways you didn’t imagine. Some may argue that it’s almost expected to get a little emotional at some point during pageant week.
I say this because it happened to me. The entire week of nationals I thought I had it together... until prelim night. After the preliminary competition, I started doubting myself. It may have been the 4am makeup appointments causing lack of sleep, but I definitely did not have my highest level of confidence come Friday night. When I arrived back in my hotel room I suddenly began to cry, which was especially frustrating when i consider myself “someone who doesn’t really get emotional”. I was questioning if my fun fashion walking pattern was strong enough, if my hair had enough volume, if I smiled enough during evening gown.
After months of preparation, we want everything to be perfect and we want to be ENOUGH. Thank goodness for my sister queens Miss Australia International and Miss California International who were there to remind me that I was enough, no matter the outcome. They sat with me in the hotel room and reassured me that it was okay to cry. And to be perfectly honest, if I hadn’t let myself feel all of those raw emotions on Friday night, I don’t believe my performance during finals would have been as strong. Thankfully I had my sisters there with me to let me know that even if I didn’t feel my best on Friday, I still had an entire new day to face on Saturday with more passion than ever before.
This was such a beautiful example of pageant life lessons. When we fall down, we must stand up, brush ourselves off (maybe with the help of a few friends) and charge forth towards our dreams. It’s ok to cry, but as my sister queens reminded me, I wasn’t going to get anywhere sulking in self doubt. Instead, I gave myself a pep-talk in the mirror, washed off my running mascara, and crawled into bed telling myself “it’s not over yet!”
In health and happiness,
I say this because it happened to me. The entire week of nationals I thought I had it together... until prelim night. After the preliminary competition, I started doubting myself. It may have been the 4am makeup appointments causing lack of sleep, but I definitely did not have my highest level of confidence come Friday night. When I arrived back in my hotel room I suddenly began to cry, which was especially frustrating when i consider myself “someone who doesn’t really get emotional”. I was questioning if my fun fashion walking pattern was strong enough, if my hair had enough volume, if I smiled enough during evening gown.
After months of preparation, we want everything to be perfect and we want to be ENOUGH. Thank goodness for my sister queens Miss Australia International and Miss California International who were there to remind me that I was enough, no matter the outcome. They sat with me in the hotel room and reassured me that it was okay to cry. And to be perfectly honest, if I hadn’t let myself feel all of those raw emotions on Friday night, I don’t believe my performance during finals would have been as strong. Thankfully I had my sisters there with me to let me know that even if I didn’t feel my best on Friday, I still had an entire new day to face on Saturday with more passion than ever before.
This was such a beautiful example of pageant life lessons. When we fall down, we must stand up, brush ourselves off (maybe with the help of a few friends) and charge forth towards our dreams. It’s ok to cry, but as my sister queens reminded me, I wasn’t going to get anywhere sulking in self doubt. Instead, I gave myself a pep-talk in the mirror, washed off my running mascara, and crawled into bed telling myself “it’s not over yet!”
In health and happiness,
Kelsey
Miss International 2017
Miss International 2017
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