Why I Stopped Giving A F*Ck About What Other People Think

The unrequested opinions of others should never matter to you. Ever. 

I used to care so much about what people thought of me. Whether it be my makeup, my hair colour, what I was wearing or how fat I thought I was, everyone's opinion mattered  but mine. When I look back to situations where I was so caught up on how strangers perceived me, I just want to shake myself and say, 'Stop giving a f*ck!' I can finally say that I've got to a point in my life where the number of f*cks I give = zero.

Read: The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving A F*ck

We all do it. We live in a society where we're so concerned with how everyone else sees us and what they think, when really the only approval we need is from ourselves.

You're walking down the street and you're feeling self conscious about your appearance, you feel like everyone is looking at you. Maybe you think your bum looks too big in these jeans, or your hair is a mess or your arms look awful in this top. You think everyone walking past you is noticing the small things that you're worried about. Truth is, they're probably walking past you thinking you're noticing the exact same things about them, and are you? No.

We get so worried about people judging us that we forget everyone is too busy thinking about themselves to even notice. I became so much more confident in myself when I just stopped caring. Now no one's opinion matters to me but my own. 

I finally realised that I don't exist to please everyone else. I dress in what I feel good in. I do my makeup how I like it. I'm not afraid to go in the opposite direction to where everyone else is going. I do what makes me happy. When it comes to your body, how you look and how you feel, your opinion is the only one that matters. I'm glad I've gotten to this place where I can put my own feelings first but this wasn't always the case.

SHOP MY OUTFIT

I dyed my hair dark brown when I was thirteen because people made fun of my natural hair colour. If the current me was in this situation I would politely tell those people to piss off, but thirteen year old me wasn't that courageous. I dyed it because I thought I wanted dark brown hair but subconsciously it was because I cared what they thought. I'm currently growing out my natural hair colour because I bloody love it and screw what anyone thinks!

 - If you want to officially stop giving a crap and start living then you need to read The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight. This is a life-changer and will definitely make you think differently about caring so much.

Not that long ago I couldn't leave the house without a full face of makeup on. In a world filled with perfected Instagram selfies and where 'on fleek' makeup is the norm, I felt that if my makeup wasn't perfect then everyone would notice. 'God forbid that woman thinks my contour isn't blended properly, or what if that guy thinks my brows are too thick?' I realised literally nobody cares, so why should I? I regularly have no-makeup days now and only wear very minimal makeup and I feel so much better in myself.

People are so quick to judge when they know nothing about a person. If someone judges you who isn't an important person in your life, then their opinion is of absolutely no relevance to you. Don't take it on board and if it does affect you, just realise that you're the open minded one here and they probably judge everyone they meet in their lives, not just you. They should spend less time judging others and more time judging themselves.

Take these pictures of me in this blog post for example. I was standing in a very busy park on a hot day and there were tons of people laying on the grass, chatting and sunbathing. I took quite a few pictures in different poses ('cos you gotta get that lighting girl) and spent time getting the right shot. You'll never guess what happened... nobody said a thing. Nobody came up to me saying, 'Omg, why are you taking pictures?' or, 'You look so stupid doing that.' These are things I would of thought people were thinking about me a few years ago. What really happened? Nobody batted an eyelid and no one even looked my way, and if anyone did say anything behind my back then I couldn't care less because I got some damn good photos out of it.

There are some days where I feel slightly self-conscious, which is completely human, so I end up caring slightly about how people see me, but I'm able to put those thoughts to the back of my mind and continue being my non-caring self.

It's time we all stop caring what other people think about us and celebrate ourselves for who we are. Don't change yourself for society, don't worry about how other people perceive you. Be yourself and be proud of everything about you. In the most empowering way possible, let's all stop giving a f*ck. Emily x