Beverly Naya: I lacked self esteem as a child, I never thought I was beautiful

Nollywood actress Beverly Naya has said she never really thought she was beautiful as a child, adding that she had low self-esteem issues.

The actress said she was bullied for “having really bad eczema, crooked teeth, a light bulb head and football legs”.

“I never thought I was beautiful as a child and once I hit my early teens, I found myself overcompensating for my lack of self esteem,” she wrote in a post on her Instagram page on Thursday.

“I wanted to please in every way to the detriment of my own happiness…this carried on into my early twenties when after two years of living in Nigeria.

“I nearly completely lost myself trying to fit in and be understood/liked. I guess growing up as an only child has partly attributed to my reserved nature.

“I’m an introvert when you first meet me but an extrovert when comfortable, most times socially awkward on first encounter (first few encounters in some cases lol) but my heart is always in the right place…I’m not perfect.”

I've come a long way from the little girl who was bullied for having really bad eczema, crooked teeth, a 'lightbulb head' and 'football legs'. I never thought I was beautiful as a child and once I hit my early teens, I found myself overcompensating for my lack of self esteem. I wanted to please in every way to the detriment of my own happiness…this carried on into my early twenties when after two years of living in Nigeria, I nearly completely lost myself trying to fit in and be understood/liked. I guess growing up as an only child has partly attributed to my reserved nature. I'm an introvert when you first meet me but an extrovert when comfortable, most times socially awkward on first encounters (first few encounters in some cases lol) but my heart is always in the right place…I'm not perfect. I think I only truly found myself last year, I stopped trying to make people like me, stopped trying to force people to see the real me…the funny me, the happy and bubbly me, the caring me. I realised that only those who are genuinely supposed to be in my life would always be the ones who get to see this. I only realised last year that you can't force people to like you, neither can you dumb down/change who you are to be accepted. I'm not perfect but God thinks I am and He knows it's been an emotional battle to get my mind to where it is today, but I am so incredibly grateful and proud of myself for the woman I am becoming…I say becoming because I don't believe any of us are there yet, I don't think we ever stop growing into our purpose, but the journey (if you allow it to happen without manipulating it) truly is beautiful. If I could speak to my younger self, I would tell her: Dear Beverly, I love you so much. You are beautiful, you are worthy, you are a gift from God and you are enough. The very words my mum has told me since I was a young child, the very words that went in one ear and out the other…the very words that with time, experience and growth; I wholeheartedly understand and accept today. (Cont'd in comment section) Signed BN Written at 02:35am on June 12th 2017 ❤️

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A post shared by Beverly Naya (@thebeverlynaya) on Aug 24, 2017 at 6:45am PDT

The actress said if she could speak to her younger self, she would tell her of how beautiful she is and that “you are a gift from God”.