“You are imperfect, you are wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.
Brené Brown

Standing in Kmart at Garden City, I was very excited to see the third instalment of Miss Jones out on DVD. Having missed both the Australian and New Zealand release of the movie in cinemas, I couldn’t believe my luck.

I’ve been a Bridget tragic since JD introduced me to the books years ago and I’ve watched the first two movies at least a dozen times. Usually when I’d had a ‘cringe-worthy’ Bridget moment and needed validation that it wasn’t ‘just me’.

In Bridget Jones, Helen Fielding managed to capture an unlikely heroine so flawed yet so relatable to generations of women. She drank too much, smoked too much, fixated on her weight, opened her mouth before engaging her brain and most importantly, embodied many of the insecurities we feel but often don’t readily admit.

Maybe Bridget’s internal narrative is something most of us share. Personally, I’ve had whole conversations with people, in my head, holding up both sides of the conversation, changing the tone and outcome, none of which were ever going to, or ever did transpire.

Bridget Jones figuratively speaks to millions. Evident in the fact that she was judged on the Woman’s Hour ‘Power List’ as one of seven women to have had a significant impact on women’s lives in the past 70 years. Quite a feat when you consider the real-life women, she shares that honour with.

I feel like an idiot most of the time

Perhaps part of Bridget’s appeal is that there is a little bit of her in each of us. For me, I feel I’ve lived parts of her story verbatim, certainly some of the binge drinking, self-sabotage cringeworthy moments ring true. Hey, I’ve even got the library of self-help books, but then they only help if you consistently apply the principles.

One of the traits I admire in Bridget Jones, she never let her insecurities or discomfort hold her back and wasn’t afraid to step out of her comfort zone. She stood up for herself when she had to and spoke her truth when she needed to.

 “You seem to go out of your way to make me feel like a complete idiot every time I see you and you really needn’t bother. I feel like an idiot most of the time already”.

Yep, feeling like an outsider, that sense of not good enough certainly rings true and sometimes I feel like an imposter in my own life, but fake it till you make it, right?

Then you get the jellyfish, Jamie Osbourne character in Edge of Reason. We’ve all encountered people like that at some point, perhaps you’re even related to a few that are quick with the barbed comments and not so subtle put-downs. We just need to remind ourselves that it says more about them, then it does us.

My dad always said, “Don’t let the bastards get you down”, sometimes that’s easier said than done but definitely worth striving for.

Perhaps we all need to embrace our unique and start liking ourselves, “just as we are!”