I read a book once in college that said we aren't who we think we are... and we aren't who others think we are... but we are how others think we see ourselves. In other words the way people think we perceive ourselves is how they will perceive us also. That statement really stuck with me because it made me realize something. We are in control of who we are. It's all in our minds and how we see ourselves. It explains the unattractive guy in the bar getting all the girls and the beautiful girl in the corner hiding behind her hair and going completely unnoticed. When you believe you are worth something so will everyone around you and when you don't no one else will either. Perception is an amazing thing.
I was at the gym again today working out. I was covered in sweat, getting ready to do some ab excersizes when I decided to look in the mirror...REALLY look in the mirror (which is something I've been trying to avoid since I gained all my baby weight)... and I realized something. My legs looked skinnier than I thought they were... so did the rest of my body. And all of a sudden I was happy. It could have been the lighting or the clothes I had on but all of a sudden just because my perception had changed so did the way I felt about myself. I hadn't lost any weight since the last time I saw myself in the mirror. I just picture myself as one size and I saw myself this time and realized I was actually smaller.
Isn't it funny that it's MY own body... I live in it everyday, I see it in the mirror and yet I don't see it clearly?? What else is there in my life that I see the same way? ...through the fog of my perception and not how it really is... perhaps I need to look at everything again.
Exactly Elaine, like how talented you REALLY are.
ReplyDeleteYou know I used to point to people I saw while I was out shopping or at the doctor's office and say to my companion, "That's what I look like, I see myself that size" and I always got the same reaction. "Your crazy, you're no where near that size." or "NO WAY". But in my head or in my mirror, that is what I see. It's definately perception. I remember myself looking a certain way (about 20 years ago when i was in my prime) and swear that is what I should look like today. Maybe one day I will. We'll have to wait and see.
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