Improving the Mental Image of ourselves
For as LONG as I can remember, I’ve been told all my life that I was clumsy. Since I was a child, I’ve heard those words repeatedly. Of course, I started believing and internalizing them for years, received them as being my own, and would frequently use them as part of my internal dialogue. Every time I did something that people considered as being, clumsy, I would reaffirm to myself how clumsy I was. Why NOT?? I’ve been doing it all my life. Recently, I’ve started becoming very annoyed at having those words either spoken to me or continue to pop in my head when things happen.
This might not be your story. You might have been told something totally different, but I bet you can relate. Here’s what I want you to remember... because this is what I hold dear to my heart now... It’s a quote by motivational speaker Les Brown that says, “Other people’s opinion of you does NOT have to become your reality”. Well, I didn’t realize that growing up, so I started believing things about myself that were the opinions of others. I wondered though, what could have been a different outcome for me in my thought process if instead of being told that I was clumsy, I would have had more positive messages conveyed.
Don’t get me wrong... I’m certainly not playing the blame game here because there’s no reason for that. I’m just shedding light on a subject that’s real in many families. We must learn to speak more affirming words in the lives of our family members so that as they walk through life, they will consistently adapt to creating better mental images of themselves.
Comments