Importance Of Insecurity In Step Not Taken By Amy Cuddy

Insecurities: The Way We Perceive Ourselves

Insecurity is a power drill that drills through one’s confidence and destroys their self-esteem. Whether it be looking in the mirror and being unsatisfied with one’s appearance, or having to speak up in a meeting. Insecurities have the ability to control one’s life and emotions. As Vin Diesel always says, “It's insecurity that is always chasing you and standing in the way of your dreams.” As a matter of fact, insecurities can come to one in many ways such as body language, personal habits, and society’s expectations.

To begin with, many people are concerned when others are judging their body language. In the TED talk, Your Body Language Shapes Who You Are by Amy Cuddy, the author points out how

Some expectations include, gender stereotyping, judging someone by their body or appearance etc. In the essay, Step Not Taken by Paul D’Angelo, a man who is in an elevator with another man who is crying. The majority of today’s society would ignore that man, because his reaction is unpredictable, and that is what the narrator did. He states, “ I stood in the hallway, a bundle of mixed emotions, wondering what to do” (D’Angelo, 14). This shows that the narrator is confused on whether he should help or not. The narrator felt insecure, because the crying person was a man, and usually a man can deal with his own issues. Humans are programmed in a way where they will help a crying woman but not a crying man. Isn’t that ironic? Aren’t we all humans? Later on, the narrator regrets not helping the crying man. He even states, “I should have thrown caution to the winds and done the right thing. Not the big-city thing. The human thing”(D’Angelo, 14). Thus, stating that he did the wrong thing by ignoring the crying man. The narrator says “The big-city thing.” That is very significant because in today’s world a majority would just ignore the crying man. In addition, the narrator feels guilt at the end of this essay due to his ignorance towards the crying man. He states, “That I was wrong, dreadfully wrong, not to step forward in his time of need”(D’Angelo, 15). This explains that sometimes one must go out of their comfort zone, and forget about feeling insecure about the future. If the narrator had given the man help without overthinking about his reaction, the crying man would have someone to relieve his stress with. In total, one must stop feeling insecure about the future or society’s expectations, and help the ones in