Top: The Flourish Market (Use code “STILLBEINGMOLLY” for free shipping) | Jeans: Stitch Fix | Necklace: Journey Lockets | Earrings: Nickel and Suede | Bag: The Flourish Market (code “STILLBEINGMOLLY” for free shipping) | Shoes: The Root Collective (this link for 10% off) | Cuff: Branded Collective | Watch: Wristology Watches c/o (Use code “45” for 20% 0ff)

Photography by Em Grey

There’s a difference between being cocky and being confident. 

Cocky is thinking you’re better than everyone else. Confident is believing that you are smart, capable, and you believe in yourself. Cocky is thinking you’re a know it all, while confident is knowing that you don’t know it all and you’re okay with that. Cocky is stepping on people to get your way or “advance,” while confidence is supporting and encouraging and lifting others up while also being able to accept help when YOU need it. I’ve actually struggled a lot with confidence over the years. It’s not something that has come very easy to me… but, as I get older, it’s an area I’ve worked to grow in. I think it honestly ebbs and flows… I feel more confident in some areas while I feel less confident in others. But, progress, not perfection, right?

And it’s also an area that sometimes I’ll feel like I’m doing great and I’m gaining confidence and really hitting my stride… but then something comes along and knocks me down and I have to build myself back up again.

Do you know what I mean?

Again, it’s a process.

Everyone said that your 30s is the decade where you really start to figure out who you are, what you are about, what you believe in, and gain a sense of self-worth and self-confidence that you didn’t have in your younger years.

While I’m only a couple years into my 30s now, I TOTALLY see where that is the case. Even after having two kids, I feel more confident in owning my body now at a size 14 than I EVER did at a size 8 or 10. I know that I am strong and I know what my body has been through. I appreciate it more!

I know that I’m not supposed to try to “fit” into a mold or a category or a “group.” That’s not me. I’m ME. I’m learning to have a bold confidence that can’t be broken and can’t be shaken.

What about you? Is confidence something you struggle with or something you embrace?