Tuesday night I shared something on Facebook that would make my photo-conscious sister cringe – a picture of myself at 15.
My shoulders are slumped, my head cocked at a weird angle, and my expression is halfway between a laugh and a blush-filled plea to hide in the bathroom. Which is where I should have been considering the sweater / skirt combo I was wearing…
In my memory though, I was an incredibly beautiful (though awkward) and super cool teen.
Ah for the rose-tinged vision of retrospect!
But here’s the interesting part – that post received 32 comments. Each one a loving vote of support for how I looked or someone’s recounted memory of me from high school that corroborated my uber pretty and cool story.
Then the strangest thing happened.
The picture started to change.
I’d posted it to poke gentle fun at my teenage self, but with each caring comment, I started to see more of what others saw and less of what I did.
After an hour, the uncomfortable, defensive girl had faded completely. In her place, I found a hopeful yet insecure young lady trying to navigate her way in the world.
That’s the power of your mind.
How open are you to changing your core beliefs?
About yourself, your life – everything?
Because if you’re willing to reconsider what you know to be true, you might be amazed by what you find.
You’re deeply lovable.
Money comes easily to you.
You’re more caring, creative, or funny than you ever gave yourself credit for.
But you’ll never realize any of what you might be while you’re still thinking of yourself as you are.
To truly grow and heal, you have to be willing to transform – not just your current thoughts and actions, but everything you believed to be true about who you were before.
You have to let it go and see yourself in the best light possible.
Honestly, if you’d asked me a week ago, I would have said sure and given you some words about the power of forgiveness and letting yourself off the hook.
But now I know so much more is possible. Now I realize you can completely re-wire how you look at yourself.
You can re-write your story.
And you must.
Because it’s impossible to succeed if you still believe you’re a screw up. Just like you can’t let in love if you still think you don’t deserve it because of whatever hurts that happened years ago.
See yourself as Love sees you.
Imagine you’re Mother Teresa, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela, or Jesus himself. Heck, imagine you’re your best friend. How do they view you?
What light do they see in your smile?
What goodness do they know is in your heart?
Where does their tender acceptance fill the gaps in your soul?
Then allow those thoughts to be true.
Allow yourself to recreate the truths you thought you knew.
Because your opinion matters. But it’s changeable.
Choose you.
Be free. Be brave. Be YOU!
Love,
Alexis
p.s. You’re welcome 😛
- What to do when you start slipping on your goals - January 9, 2019
- “But it’s not safe to be me…” 3 approaches to the fear of not being safe - January 7, 2019
- 3 tangible gifts of living your truth - January 5, 2019