Everyone will worry about something at some point in their lives. Sometimes we know what someone is worrying about, other times we do not. This can bring on a lot of stress on anyone who is worrying about something, which obviously no one wants to experience.
Girls worry about a lot of things. Obviously boys worry about a lot of things too, however as a girl I have no experience in the kind of things that boys worry about. So today I thought I would share with you a few things I have noticed that most girls seem to worry about, in order to help you either not think you are alone in what you are worrying about or to give you a further insight into the kind of things that girls worry about on a regular basis.
(DISCLAIMER: I know that the things I am about to say do not necessarily relate to every single girl in the world, however these are just from my own general observations of girls my age (19) and from my own personal experience)
1. When they will find 'the one'
I think that most girls who believe in fairy-tales find themselves waiting for the day when they find their 'prince', fall in love, get married, have a baby and live happily ever after. The stress of finding 'the one' only increases when we think we have found them, only to some point later realise that they are not the right person for us. This increases as we get older as, if you are like me, you will have been under the impression that in your 20s you would get married and have a baby. All women have a biological clock and the older they get, the less likely they are (in most cases) to be able to conceive and may end up going down another route in order to have a child. These things can happen at any time and as hard as it is to accept that you may not get that love when you want it, you will be able to find it at some point. You may have to change some of your plans in terms of this, but just because this does not work out one way, it can work out another and you may find that this way is a much better way than the way you originally wanted things to work out.
2. Walking down the street
Now, this may seem a bit of a weird one at first but hear me out. Obviously this sort of thing could happen to anyone, however girls are at risk of being preyed/hit on by men and then being attacked when they tell them no. No means no and if I tell a man that I am not interested in him, I would then expect him to walk away and leave me alone. This particular thing is more likely to happen at night, which is why all women will try to avoid walking the streets alone at night to avoid this particularly sort of thing from happening. Even if it is not night time, every time I leave my house to go to university or just to quickly pop into town, I worry that something is going to happen to me, whether a man is involved in the thing that happens to me or not. I have had a couple of incidents in this respect and they have involved men each time and as I know I cannot have someone with me 24/7 to make sure this type of thing does not happen to me, whenever I am alone I do tend to keep my head down whilst still remaining aware of my surroundings and walk as fast as I can from one place to the next. As far as I can tell, I do not think that girls will ever not have this worry, and I know it is not only girls that worry about what might happen to them when they walk down the street, but if this day ever does come where no one ever has to worry about walking down the street, I can see that day being one of the best days of my life.
3. Being judged for how they look
I am sure that everybody has felt self-conscious about how they look at some point in their lives; whether that be their face, their body, their clothes, etc., but as a girl I can only really comment on this from a girl's (my) perspective. I guess I have always been self-conscious about how I look, what my body looks like and what the clothes I am wearing make me look like. As far as my looks go, I have always been self-conscious about how I look and will never leave my house without wearing make-up - even if I am just quickly popping out to get something. I have a mole on my face that is quite noticeable and is something that people have always asked me about and I feel that this is one of the first things anyone notices about me. I have recently started wearing glasses that help protect your eyes from the blue light that shines from anything with a screen, as I spend quite a lot of my time doing this between writing blog posts, engaging with people on social media, doing university work and watching TV. I actually prefer myself with these glasses as they cover up the mole on my face and I feel that these glasses are now one of the first things people notice about me and not the mole. I have always hated how my body looks as when I was a child people would always say that I was bigger than my friends, which was definitely true in terms of height (at the time) but in terms of weight I was maybe ever so slightly bigger than them but even at that point I could comfortably fit into a size 8 and even now the sizes I wear range between a 10 and a 12. Then when I started secondary school people would always tell me that I had an amazing figure and they were really jealous of it, however because of how I had been made to feel prior to this I thought they were being sarcastic and that they actually thought I was fat. I am learning to try and love my body and right now I could definitely do with losing a bit of weight due to weighing a bit more than I should and also wanting to get to a size I feel comfortable with. This links in with clothes as I tend to try and stick with clothes that I feel comfortable in and that hides all the lumps and bumps so I can look slimmer than I actually am. But anytime I wear something that looked great on the model but not exactly as I envisaged it would on me, I am always scared of people who I do not even know judging me and laughing about me behind my back. The day I can feel comfortable in every single thing that I wear will be one of the best days of my life (if that day ever even happens). It can even include not having the latest fashion as I know many girls who worry about what others are going to think if they do not have the latest thing and wear clothes they have had for a couple of years and feel ridiculed if they wear the same thing more than once. Clothes are made to be worn multiple times and I still have clothes that I have had since I was fifteen. I know I definitely worry about this but we all have to realise that if someone ridicules us for wearing the same clothes or not having the latest fashion then they clearly have too much time on their hands and we should all feel able to wear the same clothes over and over again without worrying what people will think.
4. Not having something when they need it
I am sure all girls have been there (or will be there at one point) where they are going about their daily business and all of a sudden they start their period and have no sanitary products with them. I am sure they have also been there (or will be there) where they either do or do not have on any sanitary products and they have a bit of leakage which seeps through their pants and onto their outer clothing and potentially onto any furniture they are sitting/lying on. I am sure I am not the only one who has been out in public and have started my period without any sanitary products and have had to quickly pop into the nearest toilet I can find and put some toilet paper down there before I can get my hands on some sanitary products. I have even done that when I already have a period pad on but have found there was a little bit of leakage and had no other sanitary products on me so had to put some toilet paper on top of the pad to prevent any further leakage. It is pretty easy for anyone to say that you should know when your period is going to start and therefore you should be prepared for it, but periods do not always start on the day they are meant to and can start a little later or a little earlier. Or you may be at home when your period starts but realise that you ran out of sanitary products at the end of your last period so need to pop out and stock up. I do try and stock up when I can but if I am not in need of these things at that time then I tend to forget about them and end up regretting my decision when I actually do need them.
5. What people say about them in their group chats
This is such a 21st century and first world problem to have, but I and many other girls I know are constantly worrying about what other people are saying about us in their group chats. If I say something to a girl I am not friends with then I am fairly certain that depending on what I say she will then go into her group chat with her friends and tell them what I told her which will then turn into a full on bitching session about me. I also know that if I do something and a girl who I am not friends with sees it and knows me (of if she does not know me) then she will be straight into her group chat and that will also turn into a full on bitching session about me. I also know if I post a photo on my private instagram (which has not happened since last year) or if I post something on my snapchat story, nine times out of ten a girl will send it directly into her group chat and they will bitch about me. This is why my private instagram is on private so people who are not following me cannot see my photos as I know plenty of people who go on other's instagram profiles where you do not have to be following them to view their photos and will take a screenshot of some of their photos to send into the group chat, which then turns into a bitching session about that person. Another group of girls' group chat is not your friend and is the thing in life that you want to avoid being put into at all costs.
So those are the things from my perspective that girls worry about. Obviously I can only share these things from the stuff I have experienced or from what I have witnessed other girls experience, but I am interested to know about some of the things you worry about or what you used to worry about but have come to the realisation that you do not actually need to worry about them. Please share your thoughts in the comments below and I cannot wait to read them!
Love Beth xx