Thank You For Being Exactly Who You Are

I mean that, and I mean that for everyone. Those who love and support me, and especially to those who may not. I say especially to those who may not because those people who I may not agree with or who may not support who I am or what I do, sometimes teach me the most. It’s those people, or my encounters with them, that can cause me to look inward, as well as outward, to look at myself, and look at things from a different point of view, or perhaps, allow me to find some compassion for them, even possibly relate to them in some way. Everyone we encounter is there to teach us something or to cause a certain reaction, good, bad or otherwise.

But it those who love us, support us, see the best in us that typically have the biggest impact. Sometimes they see who we are before we do, even love us, before we love ourselves, and sometimes seeing ourselves through their eyes allows us to find that love within, or remind us of the us we may have lost. And many times it’s difficult to see ourselves, a lot of the time, through someone else’s eyes sometimes, we may tell ourselves they’re wrong, or they just don’t know the real us, or that they may want something from us so they’re not telling us the truth, we don’t trust that what they are saying and seeing is true. Somehow, it always seems easier to believe the bad than the good, but if we’re able to let go our own insecurities, self-doubt or issues around trust, many times we are able to see what they see, or at least believe that they see it, even if we don’t see it in ourselves. And if we’re able to let that in just a little, it may open the door to self-acceptance, and, eventually, maybe even self-love. I know, slow down…but it’s true, I know it’s true because it happened for me.

What if you started to believe those positive things people say about you? What if you took the compliment and just said thank you, instead of trying to talk them out of it. What if you tried to let down the shield of shit you hide behind and let some good in,and trust and believe what others see in you might be the truth. We seem to be quick to compliment others, or share positive things with people in our lives, but we can’t accept it when it’s directed at us. Let the positive in. Accept the compliments. It was always said to me when I first started this journey that when you don’t take a compliment  you’re actually calling them a liar, telling them they’re wrong, and when I thought of it that way it was easier for me to say thank you and move on rather than argue with them. Just say thank you. That’s all. But that thank you opens the door to acceptance.

And on the flip-side, if someone comes at you and hurls insults at you, or is wrong about your character, they’re entitled to that opinion, and it’s always good to use those moments to do a check inward to see if you’re doing something to illicit that response from someone, but a lot of the time what it really does is tells you something about them, and it’s giving you the opportunity to practice compassion and perhaps look at why that person may be responding to you in a negative way, it allows you to practice humility and not jump at them when you feel you are under attack. Those times are also great times to practice pausing before we speak or type, take that pause, so you’re not doing or saying something that you may regret later. So, really, good, bad, there is a reason for all of it, and always a way to take something positive out of every situation. As I always say, experiences are really just information, we place importance on them, or label them or maybe place our own expectations on them, but at the end of the day, it’s all just information, and what we choose to do with that information is what shows our strength of character.

So, no matter who you are, thank you for being exactly who you are, you may not love me, but I love you for giving me the opportunity to learn and practice being my best self today. SLAY on!

SLAY OF THE DAY: Do you appreciate people for who they are in your life? Even if they may not be positive? Are you able to see yourself through other people’s eyes? Do you see what they see? If not, why not? What do they see that you don’t see? How do you think you can start to see that? When something negative happens are you quick to defend yourself? Are you quick to lash out? Are you quick to believe the negative talk they may be saying to you? Why? Do you always believe them? Is it possible that they are wrong? Is it possible you are wrong in believing them? What if you worked on believing the good and leaving the rest? What do you think would happen? Not ignoring the bad, looking at how it may apply to you, but then letting it go. Making changes if you need to be your best self, but not carrying around the negative like a badge of shame. What if you started to believe in yourself and focused on the good, your good, and sharing that with those around you. I guarantee you SLAYER, that good will grow, and so will the love you find in yourself.

S – self L – love A – appreciate Y – you