Beyond Insecurities

A few years ago, when I was in university, I was doing an internship. I did a one-month internship at a company. The company was very far from my hometown and university, and it took me around one and a half hours to travel by bus.
I thought, why not? I decided to explore the city and thought that maybe I would get the chance to experience new things in my life. I also wanted to explore myself.
My internship shift was in the evening. I had a roommate named Pratibha. She was very good and caring. One day, she came to the office wearing a saree. She had passed an audition and had many talents that she wanted to pursue.
My roommate was an intern communicator in the PR department. I always used to praise her, but she was very insecure about her dark complexion. She always thought that people would judge her because of her dark skin. She wore different dresses and tried many things, but she used to get ready for the office with makeup because she believed she did not look beautiful without it.
One day, I asked her, “Why do you apply makeup? You are so beautiful without makeup.”
She said that she felt beautiful with makeup, but I told her that people would judge her looks anyway.
The next day, I took her to the office without makeup. She was very nervous because she had facial hair and acne, but I told her that her confidence would shine more than anything else.
That day, during an important meeting in the PR department, the company gave Pratibha the leadership to lead the team. She gave very good speeches and presentations and completed her work successfully.
I still remember that day. I realized that insecurities can make us feel that everyone is looking at us and judging us. But when we focus on our work and our life, we realize that people are not always thinking about us.
Sometimes, society judges people based on their looks, but later, people see your work. Then we realize that we are not the only ones carrying insecurities.