#Awkward: 4 Reasons You Should Embrace Your Embarrassing Photos From The Past
One picture, one little snapshot of an entire lifetime, can be attached to endless memories and emotions. The reason we take pictures is to preserve the moments in our lives we want to remember forever.
Some pictures we hold near and dear to our hearts, and then there are the pictures we want to set on fire.
Of course, I’m talking about middle school pictures. Childhood was filled with excitement, happiness, freedom from social expectations and a whole lot of awkward stages. Lucky for us, they were all captured and documented in pictures.
You see photographs like the ones from your 12th birthday where you had braces and unruly hair, and you automatically hate them because of what you looked like. But have you ever stopped to look at these pictures and reflected on the moments in which you took them?
These horribly embarrassing pictures that overflow our moms' photo albums should not be kept in hiding. We should cherish these pictures just as much as attractive ones we put all over Facebook and Instagram.
If looking at your middle school pictures makes you want to slap yourself and scream, “What was I thinking?” Listen up because there are reasons why you should love every single embarrassing picture of yourself from the past.
1. You Were Cool Back Then
Everyone threw up the peace sign in middle school; everyone had bathroom mirror photo shoots and everyone had at least one selfie profile picture taken on Photo Booth in the Sepia or Pop Art effect.
You got tons of likes on each picture and your best friends would comment on all your stuff saying how pretty you were. In hindsight, yes, you were a total dork, but back then, you had the most likes out of all your friends on your profile pictures, so who cares?
2. You Were Having A Great Time
There are countless old pictures up on Facebook of you and your friends doing weird middle school type stuff. But instead of backtracking through all your old albums and deleting your past, appreciate that you have these pictures to let you remember the great times you had.
Looking back, you think everything you used to do was so stupid, but the smile plastered on your face in every picture is proof that you were having so much fun. Even if your mouth was full of braces, you deserve to have memories of even your silliest moments.
3. Believe It Or Not, You Had Style
You weren’t the only one in your class dressing the way you were. No one in middle school was, by any means, a fashion guru, but we did do our best to copy all of our favorite celebrity fashion trends.
Chokers, headbands, jean skirts, camouflage anything, rhinestones, glitter, layers, layers and more layers -- Whatever it was, you wore it all.
So don’t hate pictures because you think you looked like you got dressed in the dark every morning; you were very much aware of what you were wearing, and you rocked it.
4. You Have Changed And Grown Since Then
Don’t be afraid of who you were and what you looked like because that is what made you who you are now. Instead of allowing old yearbook pictures to haunt your life, post a #TBT of yourself on Instagram and brag about how great puberty was to you.
Seeing old pictures of yourself should be anything but embarrassing because they should make you feel mature and beautiful. You’ve lost the baby fat, frizzy hair and now your teeth are as straight as an arrow. You've blossomed, so don’t be afraid to brag about it.
Above all else, these pictures are precious memories you should keep with you forever to show to your children, grandchildren and future husband and family.
They are moments in your life you’ll never get back, so don’t let the attractiveness of a photo let you disregard a fun memory. Even the most embarrassing photographs need to be cherished because, one day, when you are all shriveled up and old, those pictures will be what makes you feel young and alive again.
Photo Courtesy: Tumblr
