This past week I was offered an opportunity to do a free challenge with a group that I am involved in. One of the mini challenges was to find a picture of ourselves as a little child, around the age of 3 or 4. To find a picture of ourselves before the stories in our heads started to mess with our lives. You know the stories, right? The ones that say “Who am I?”, “I’m not worthy of XYZ”, “I can’t do that”, “I hate my body”, etc. At what age were we when we began believing these stories?
Let’s dig a little deeper into this. Stories are the made-up versions of excuses of why you can’t have something or why you can’t do something. Stories involve either us being told by other people we can’t have or do something, which we then adopt as our beliefs, or they are the sheer result of us comparing ourselves to others. Either way, these stories aren’t real, they are MADE UP.
Who am I?
Ah, I bet almost every mother has said this to herself at one point in her life. I know I have, all the time. Who Am I to teach these kids anything about life? Afterall, I am still figuring it out for myself. Who Am I to start my own business…? Who Am I to dream of expensive things and luxurious travel? I am a mom! I have bills to pay and mouths to feed. They come first. Well, my darling, WHO YOU ARE is an amazing, beautiful, magnificent, magical being who is absolutely capable of doing and having whatever she wants. You are You and there is NO ONE ELSE on this planet who has what you have.
I am not worthy of XYZ
I bet some mean kid once told you that you aren’t beautiful or that you aren’t smart. Or perhaps she/he broke your heart by choosing a new best friend or breaking up with you in 6th grade to date someone else. Whatever the event that happened, we tell ourselves this ALL.THE.TIME. And if you don’t? Congrats! You are the minority. But let me tell you, you ARE worthy of XYZ. Let’s take a second to fill in the blank here. I AM WORTHY OF ___________! Now, say it out loud and repeat it multiple times a day. I promise you, your belief of what you are worthy of, will change.
I can’t do that
Who told you that you can’t do that? Aren’t we grown up women now? Who can, quite frankly, tell us anything that we can’t do? Well, perhaps the government can by setting laws upon us, but that’s not what we are talking about. I am talking about your DREAMS. Your deepest desires that if you could do just about anything without a limitation of time and money, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Write it down. Now take that thing, activity, etc. and say I CAN DO ___________! Repeat it daily while you stare at your gorgeous face in the mirror.
Lastly,
I hate my body
If I had a dollar for every woman I have heard say this, I would be a millionaire. The truth is, there are hardly any of us women, especially moms, who haven’t look at our body and said something negative about it. Whether you have in the past or currently do, it happens. We aren’t perfect! No one is. However, I now ask you to reframe the way you talk about your body. Love on it. Look in the mirror and celebrate every inch of your body. For most of us, it has birthed a human being. Do you know what a miracle that is?! You, my dear, are beautiful. Every inch of you. And if you still can’t love on yourself even for a short few seconds in the mirror, then take a look at your mindset. I guarantee, that if you don’t love yourself first, you will have a hard time getting anything you want out of life.
The beautiful part about growing older is that we realize that we don’t have to have it all figured out by the age of 30. I mean, let’s be honest, most of us thought we had it all figured out by 18 only to find out that by the actual age of 30 we were just finally figuring out that we really have no idea what the heck we are doing. Who have I been the last 30 years? Some shell of a person who said, “You’re right” to anyone who said I wasn’t capable of doing something I dreamed about?
Well, my dear, it is time to sit down, or stand up, and get to work, because you have dreams to be fulfilling.
