The way you see yourself can make or break you.

Blooming Season Family!

How are you guys feeling today? 

I hope you’re feeling good. 

If you’re not feeling good? 

I hope this weeks blog can add some light and uplifting energy to your world. 

I’m feeling grateful to be alive and to have the opportunity to continue to grow, to get to know myself, to learn new things and to love. 

Last week I wrote about past regrets. 

I didn’t realize that I had so many of them. 

This week I want to dig into self imagery. 

Self imagery is the way in which you see yourself. 

I didn’t realize, until recently, that my self image was actually extremely negative. 

I never really thought of self imagery. 

I had thought about self esteem.  

And I assumed that these were the same things but they’re not exactly the same and knowing the difference is something that has been helping me on my journey. 

So, self esteem how you value yourself and the kind of person you believe yourself to be. 

Self imagery is how you see yourself. Google says it’s, “The picture you have of how you look and how you behave. It includes how you believe others see you.”

Do you catch the difference? 

Self esteem is how you perceive the inside of you. 

Self imagery is how you perceive the outside of you. 

I really do believe that it’s possible to have a healthy self esteem and an unhealthy self image. 

That sounds like a complete contradiction, I know, but I think that this is something that I’ve recently discovered about myself. 

I’ve developed a healthy view of who I am on the inside in regards to knowing my values, my personality, my talents and my goals but when I started dancing again I realized A LOT OF THINGS about how I see myself.  

I believe that the art of dance requires a childlike sense of freedom that could care less about what you look like when you’re moving your body or if it makes any sense at all. 

You cannot hide any part of yourself when you dance.

I hadn’t danced for a long time, so last month I took a dance class online, as I learned the choreography in front of a gigantic mirror, facing myself, it was as if I was looking at myself for the first time and my mind produced a surprising amount of negative comments about what I saw in the mirror. 

“You look like a loser.” 

“You don’t look as good as the other dancers.” 

“Why are you even doing this?” 

“Thank God your pants are covering your stomach.” 

“You’re holding back. You think you’re free but look at you, you’re obviously not.” 

Sometimes, the way you see yourself in your head is not aligned with the way that you see yourself in real life. 

Feeling your potential is one thing. 

Demonstrating your potential is another thing. 

And if you don’t view yourself in a positive light, as a person who is capable of doing great things, that mentality makes it impossible to ascend into higher levels of improvement.  

I thought I was free until I challenged myself to dance harder, then I experienced those moments of deep insecurity while looking in the mirror, of negative thoughts and resistance. 

Every new level, new experience, new challenge, new city, introduces you to a new part of you. 

I know my potential as a performer but bringing it to life in an intense dance class made me realize, if I don’t change my view of myself then I will never reach my full potential.  

When we begin to dig deeper in order to reach our best selves, we are also confronted with our worst selves and that’s when we have to do the work. 

My thoughts needed to change. 

I needed to understand the roots of these thoughts. 

“Why don’t I see myself as a beautiful women?” 

“Where did this negative view of myself come from?”

I needed to become my own personal encourager. 

“C’mon girl, you can do this.” 

“Keep practicing and you’ll continue to improve.” 

“No one starts as a professional, it’s ok to feel a bit silly right now.” 

“Your body is perfect the way it is. Be grateful to your body for your health, strength and ability to dance, instead of shaming it.” 

“The only thing that can ever hold you back from freedom is yourself so get out of your own way and be free.” 

What are the first thoughts to come to mind when you see yourself in the mirror? Do you know that you’re beautiful without anyone telling you or convincing you? 

What are the first thoughts that enter your mind when you walk into a room full of strangers? If we assume that they think we’re losers, than that’s actually how we see ourselves. 

Whatever we assume that people are thinking when they look at us, is actually the way in which we truly see ourselves.  

What do you say to yourself when you’re doing something new/something challenging and you’re feeling inadequate? 

All of this is your self image and it’s important to have a healthy image of ourselves because this is something that can prevent you from growing and reaching higher levels. 

Last but not least, as I was writing, 3 quotes came to mind and they fit perfectly with what we’re digging into this week. 

#1: Know that you are great but not greater than anyone - Justin Bieber 

Having a healthy view of yourself isn’t about thinking that you’re better than anyone. 

We are all equal. 

We are all great in our own unique ways. 

#2: Humility is not about thinking less of yourself, it’s about   thinking of yourself less 

We’re not being humble by not owning our power and our talents. 

But if all of our thoughts are only about us, then we need to reevaluate our ego because what is life if we aren’t serving/loving others in any way? 

#3: So God created mankind in his own image,

      in the image of God he created them - Genesis 1:27 

This is powerful. 

Our creator is perfect and Holy. 

God is love and we have that power living within our imperfect human flesh. 

It’s an never ending source that we can access whenever we feel misaligned or insufficient. 

The same God that created the sky and the trees, created us and that’s a pretty big deal. We carry something mighty in our veins because of who we come from and it’s important to remember this. 

Do you have a positive self image? 

 

How do you see yourself? If your self image isn’t positive, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks of you.

Even God himself can tell you that He loves you, which He does, but if you don’t love yourself? You won’t even be able to accept God’s love into your life. 

I pray that God teaches us how to love ourselves in such a way that it overflows into the lives of others so we can all experience what it feels like to discover all of our layers and show up as who we are meant to be on this earth.

I hope this encourages you like it did to me. 

I’m sending you a big virtual hug and I’m sending you a mountain positive energy. 

Let’s keep digging and blooming and growing my friends.