“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
When I was younger, I would daydream for hours on end about being a superhero. I imagined that I had the power to use my thoughts to alter my reality, that I could manipulate the energy around me to create whatever I wanted. I thought that just being able to fly or have super strength was boring. I wanted more. 🙂
Funny enough, it turns out my childhood fantasies had a very powerful lesson in store for me.
For the last few years, I’ve been experiencing a huge transformation, filled with an array of incredible life lessons. Over the last few months, my transformation has sped up dramatically due to a singular lesson that life has been drilling into me: the power that my mind has on my reality. Because of this one lesson, I’ve come to understand the above quote on a deep, deep level…and it’s AMAZING!!!! 😀
We’ve all heard the sayings, “If you believe it, you can achieve it”, “Whether you think you can or you can’t, you’re usually right”, “Open your mind, Neo”. Lol OK that last one was just for fun ;). Well, as I’ve been learning, these quotes are kind of literal. And by “kind of”, I mean “very”.
I have another confession to make (wow, this blog’s gonna be filled with those): I used to have dangerously low self-esteem. I lamented that I didn’t believe in myself as much as my friends seemed to. I thought I wasn’t pretty, wasn’t talented, wasn’t smart, wasn’t worthy of…so much. So what did my reality reflect? These thoughts.
I thought I wasn’t pretty, so whenever someone made a mean comment about my body, I wouldn’t stick up for myself. I thought I wasn’t pretty, so when I started getting attention from boys – I ate it up and let them get away with behaviour that I would never let by now. I thought I wasn’t smart, so I didn’t shoot for that big scholarship or that amazing abroad opportunity. I thought I wasn’t worthy of love, so I avoided getting into a relationship, assuming I would be mistreated. The list goes on.
My decisions and actions reflected how I felt about myself. I let people mistreat me because I mistreated myself. I let my life be “just ok” because that’s all I thought I would get, that’s all I knew of.
Flash forward years later, 2-15 depending on the fear/thought. I love my body, so I treat it with respect and walk with poise (or spunk, depending on the day 😉 ). I have confidence in my abilities, so I approach seemingly scary opportunities (more and more so). I know I’m worthy of a grand level of love, so I let that love in from others – and I give it in return. I treat myself with respect, so I expect at least that level of respect from others – and I give it in return.
My own bar has been raised about what I believe about myself, so my entire reality is different and ever-changing to reflect my evolving self-thoughts. I am in DC because I believed in my abilities to uproot my life. I am writing this blog because I loved myself enough to walk through fears of showing the world the real me. I am going through this HUGE transformation because I trust in my ability to learn from it and come out waaay on top through it all.
Even my physical reality has been shifting. I am no longer ok with “just good enough” in so many areas of my life, from the big things to the small things. I was OK with having a dresser that was falling apart for months. How simple it was to just buy a new one, but the thought didn’t enter my mind until I realized I wanted more, deserved more, and could get more.
When you change your mind, you literally change your world. You shoot for the moon and the world reflects back to you that mentality.
Best of all, when you become a better friend to yourself, changing your thoughts to be of self-love, you’re able to give it all back out. Why wouldn’t you? You’re so happy! You become an example. You show people the absolute miracles that come with thinking better thoughts about themselves, about the world.
Just imagine if every person started focusing on eradicating their harmful thought processes, what a changed world we’d have! Let’s do that! Let’s reach for it! One by one!!
It’s possible. It takes work, but it’s possible. It takes time, but it’s possible. And it’s SO worth it.
I switched my mind and I changed my life. All my fears that once seemed huge, that once seemed insurmountable…they’re so tiny now. I can’t help but laugh – it’s so amazing! Me! The girl that was once so timid and shy and afraid of showing the world who she was, afraid of failing, afraid of succeeding. Me. Blazing. 😉
Come blaze with me! Let’s set the world on fire and show it can be done. We can reach for more. We can say “I am worth it!”. Because you know what? You are.
With all my love,
Amparo
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Reflective Challenge of the Post: Treat yourself how you’d like others to treat you. When you treat yourself with dignity, respect, and love, you emanate it out to others, and you establish a good, strong baseline for what you’ll accept in your life and what you’ll reach for. So, here’s the challenge – spend at least an hour tonight asking yourself, “how can I be a better friend to myself?” What does your heart truly desire? What would your life look like if you knew you deserved the best and knew you could get it? Be honest, be brave, be real. Delve deep, superstar(fish)!
For added challenge, I highly recommend getting Louise Hay’s book, “You Can Heal Your Life” and doing the practices in there. It’s been great for me :).
HappyStarfishes 