The Shedding by Richard M. Ankers

 

Image / Alexander Grey

The Shedding

We shed our skins repeatedly throughout our lifetime. An epidermis does not last. The "we" that begins said life journey is not the "we" that finishes it. A sobering thought, as being ourselves is one of the few things in life we can rely on.

Despite the lack of a permanent shell, we remember. We remember how we should look. How we have looked. And, perhaps most poignantly, how we’d like to look. The latter is an issue for the vast majority. I am no different in this. 

What wouldn’t we give to remodel ourselves? What would we sacrifice to be a better "we", or a better version of ourselves? And why do we feel we have to? 

The answer: A false belief that the skins of others make life more bearable. 

We envy. We regret. Life drums into us what fantastical achievements others have made and how they looked in the process. There is no correct or truly perfect skin, but there are ideas, or more precisely, ideals. There are even ways to alter ourselves to fit these ideals. But such things are for others to discuss. 

Strength is an evident desire. Beauty, too. Brainpower always helps. Confidence is the greatest, though, and the least related to the "skins" we are in. After all, said skins are just containers. Wraps. Something to hold us together. Surely confidence needs no such constraints. Or does it?

Confidence comes in many shades. There is that which comes from the strength, as mentioned earlier. There is the way you look and how the people around you perceive you because of it. That double-edged sword known as beauty. Some combine confidence and beauty for the ultimate in potency. There are also those with brains, the power to think past such madnesses. Clear thinkers are a valuable breed. Each nurtures a certain degree of confidence. Each is an asset. What could be better than a person equipped with all of them? 

One’s skin defines us in so many ways, and what it houses. Yet I think, and I might be wrong, that contentment is the most significant confidence booster of all. But contentment is only available to those who accept themselves in whatever form life delivered them. The skin matters not. 

Makes you think. 

My grandma once had a saying that applies to us all. She was a very confident woman, so I guess she knew what she was talking about: 

Nobody sees you when the light is out, but they can hear every word you say. 

I think she meant, your skin doesn’t matter, but your voice does. You don’t need to be under the spotlight to say it, either. 

In shedding our preconceptions of what does and doesn’t amount to confidence-boosting ideals, we eliminate the need for them. This is the precursor to an acceptance we all desire. And one we all deserve.

© Richard M. Ankers

Richard M. Ankers

Richard M. Ankers is the English author of The Eternals Series, Britannia Unleashed, and co-author of The Poetry of Pronouns Books 1 & 2. Richard has featured in Daily Science Fiction, Love Letters To Poe, Starspun Lit, and feels privileged to have appeared in many more. Richard lives to write.

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