Insecurity can be a very powerful force
It can lead to confidence issues, but it can also lead to moments of empowerment. As someone who has struggled with insecurity throughout my life, I know first-hand how dark and damaging those thoughts can be. But over time, I saw another side to insecurity. I came to understand it as a natural emotion that can be harnessed to fuel positive change in our lives. Like the emotion of fear, insecurity can be a driving force that pushes us out of our comfort zones and makes us grow.
In this post, I work to find meaning for insecure thoughts, and I list some tips for overcoming them based on what I’ve learned from my own experiences and reflections.
What does ‘insecure’ mean?
Insecurity can be defined in many different ways. Let’s start with some basic definitions. The Oxford English Dictionary starts with the physical meaning of the word: “Unsafe; exposed to danger; not firm; liable to give way” – like an unsafe bridge that is on the verge of collapse.
Merriam-Webster defines it as an emotion and mindset: “deficient in assurance: beset by fear and anxiety.”
If you suffer from insecurity (as we all do), then you can probably relate to both of those definitions. But as a lover of poetry and spoken word, I find that the best descriptions of insecurity come from our great poets …
Poems exploring the meaning for insecure thoughts
For most of us, insecurity can spiral into many other different emotions. If you’re looking for another word for insecure, you could describe it as uncertainty, self-doubt, inadequacy, vulnerability, fear, hesitation, anxiety, envy and so on.
Poetry is a great source for exploring these many facets and meanings for insecure thoughts.
In the poem “Harlem,” Langston Hughes hits on the feeling of failed aspirations and questions of self-worth.
What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
Here’s another one I stumbled across (author unknown) that captures the pain of looking at one’s self when feeling insecure and how it can be a very solitary experience:
Shadows of Doubt
In the silence, shadows creep,
Whispers of doubt, in darkness weep.
A mirror’s gaze, too harsh, too deep,
Insecurity, a secret to keep.
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