If you’ve been following along on my pageant journey you know I competed at in my first national competition for the Ms Full-Figured USA Pageant. I unfortunately didn’t win in this competition, but I am so grateful for the experience. Here’s to some lessons learned along the way which I’d like to share with you in this post:

I WASN’T THEIR FAV AND THAT’S OKAY

I’ve learned that I won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. Sometimes, we have to accept that everyone won’t like us. In this case, my look was a not a judge fav and that’s okay. I’ll admit, I was sad at first , but I gave it my all, I was up for the challenge and well, I made it to nationals!

YELLOW IS MY COLOR

I’ve never really considered yellow the best color on me, but this gown did me all the way in. I was shocked and admittedly scared to order such an over the top color, but had to remind myself that pageants are meant for you to be over the top.

I’M STILL A WINNER

I did win, because I showed up and gave it my all. Someone out there saw me, I touched someone and that’s what my platform is all about. Wherever you are, I did this for you. .

IT’S OKAY TO BE VULNERABLE

I spent so much of my life trying to be strong, this pageant was the first time I let that go, cried tears in public and realized my emotions were valid. Why? Because they are. We should all be allowed to feel what we feel, heal, then pick ourselves up and get back to taking care of business again. Up until this night, I skipped the validating of emotions part and went back to business. .

BE IN THE MOMENT

Funny what some time off will help you realize. While I have pics to look back on these moments, in some of these I wasn’t present, caught in the emotional roller coaster of regret, worry, feelings of failure, etc…this is another lesson learned. .

We MUST be in the moment, NOW is all we have. Thankfully my wonderful husband captured these shots for me to look back on and my wonderful queen sisters wouldn’t hesitate to tell me every detail if I asked.

In the end, I’m still your queen. I’m still the curvy, chocolate-skinned, kinky-haired, big calves, full lips, bright colored wearing, excessive smiling queen. In the end, I AM A QUEEN. 👑

Till next time.

Sincerely,

Deidra Marie