When I was younger, in high school, silly me didn't want braces because I was afraid I would look 'ugly'. I was worried that guys would not find me attractive and I would never have a date. Nevermind that like half of the other kids in high school have braces themselves...LOL...I never thought about that back then.
Then when I became an adult and made the choice to get braces, it was so empowering, I never looked back. I never felt self conscious and it never affected my self esteem in a bad way. In fact, I felt BETTER about myself from the day they went on and was so proud. I knew I was doing something to better myself and that made me feel good.
The ironic thing is, I had more dates/boyfriends during the time I had braces than before!!! I never had someone of the opposite sex say anything negative about them. All I got was compliments, 'Wow, they look nice' or 'What a pretty smile you have.' I guess the moral of the story is, the way you appear to others has a lot to do with how you see yourself and not even so much about what they see. If you have the confidence and optimism, people will be drawn to you and braces don't make one iota of difference. In fact, I met my fiance when I had braces. He had never seen me without them, until last week when they came off!!!
I am happy they are off now and my teeth are nice and straight but I wouldn't trade the time in braces at all. It was a great experience for me. I got to stay a teenager a little longer.
Great post!
