It occurs to me, how much of who we are - is defined by others.
Yes, we have our innate personality. Some of us are shy, others were born to talk.
We have our natural tendencies, of how we wish to go about life. Some of us can’t think clearly without a room being organized and made beautiful. Others of us, don’t see why there is so much fuss given to “things.” If it’s messy - we still know where our things are!
And yet those things, as real as they are to how we go about and live our lives - aren’t the things I’m thinking of today. No, I’m thinking of those other very REAL things that shape who we are.
Those things that are wound up in emotion. They exist in layers of our heart and soul. Very tender spots that exist so closely to the surface of our thoughts and feelings - yet so very buried to everyone else around us.
The people in our lives may have no clue as to what truly shapes us…. Or who.
There are words said long, long ago - that we still recite in our hearts and minds every morning when we get up. For some of us, those words are similar to, “you are worthless,” “stupid”, “you idiot”, “you’re not good enough”, or the lack of important words at all. We craved to hear “I love you”, and so we don’t feel loved, because we weren’t told we were worthy of it. We crave to hear “I’m so proud of you,” and so we feel incapable, because we don’t know what it feels like to have someone place pride in us for who we are.
If we are blessed, we wake up each morning and recite words like, “you are beautiful,” “you matter,” “you are loved,” “you are a delight,” and “you are worthy.”
Words. Always associated with deep feelings.
And they shape who we are. They shape how we feel about ourselves. They shape our view of the world.
The thing is - whether we are in the “blessed” camp, or the camp where we beat ourselves up with words said from someone in anger, bitterness, or from their own hurt… we forget our own power in our lives. We forget we have the POWER to reject or accept someone else’s words and label of who we are.
None of us wants to waste our life. But some of us DO. We just can’t seem to overcome the fact that God has a plan for who we are. AS we are. We have let the unkind words so seep into our skin, that we believe them. We believe the nonsense thrown at us from someone who really isn’t in the position to be judge and jury.
YOU - CAN - SHAPE - YOU.
You CAN be beautiful. As you are.
You CAN be worthy. As you are.
You CAN be loved. And you DO have a brain.
Don’t let someone else define and shape who you will be, unless it’s something good.
You were no accident. And just because there are people in our lives who don’t understand us, don’t love us, or don’t believe in us, doesn’t mean they are right in their assessment of us.
Because EVERYONE is worthy of those things. EVERYONE.
So when you wake up tomorrow morning, and you recite words in your heart and soul as you begin your day… why don’t you dump a few? Replace them with words from people who you know TRULY care about you. And say those things over and over until they become habit.
And you start shaping your future to be the one you are worthy of having.
