You’ve competed so many times. Each time you feel good about it going into competition, and each time you don’t place or end up in the top cut you leave feeling dejected.
People have told you that “your day will come,” but you start to question whether or not that’s true.
I know how you feel, sweet girl. And I know what it’s like to have sore feet and a tired smile after pouring your heart into a competition that you didn’t win.
As someone who has been both the competitor and the queen, I can tell you that while there are many valuable things I learned as queen, some of my most cherished memories and important life lessons were gained as a competitor.
Competing teaches you about yourself, and not winning a competition teaches you even more. You learn to develop thick skin, to not care what anyone thinks, and the skills you develop are with you for life.
This is exactly what I come back to when I start getting down on myself about not winning a pageant. Let’s face it – we all have a pretty low probability of winning when we look at the odds. Most pageants have around 50 girls – that’s a 2% chance of winning!
When you signed up for the pageant, you knew you would be spending money to be judged and get someone’s opinion. At the end of the day, that’s all those results are — an opinion. And if you can go into the pageant not caring about the outcome but instead enjoying the experience, you will be a much happier competitor (and person!) regardless of the results.
I’m not saying it’s easy to not care – I’m a very competitive person and believe me, I want to win – but it’s worth it. Take a deep breath, strap on those beautiful shoes, and place that invisible crown on your pretty little head. Because you, my dear, don’t need to represent a system in order to represent yourself and the true queen that you are.