After reading Jill's post from today, I saw that we are having similar thoughts. I decided I would go ahead and do the other self-portrait post I was toying with yesterday.Many people have told me that I have great skin. I just don't see it. (People tell me I have good hair, too, but I think we all know how I feel about that.) When I look at my skin, all I see is the blemishes, the large pores, the wrinkles that are forming. I always figured that people that thought I had good skin just weren't looking closely enough to see all of its flaws.
Then I noticed that almost everyone I knew complained about their skin. Yet when I looked at their skin, it looked perfectly good to me and I couldn't figure out why they hated it so much. Hmmm...
This leads me to believe that we can be much more forgiving of others' flaws than our own. Why is it so often difficult to have that kinder, more objective viewpoint about ourselves?
Maybe I need to take one giant step back and stop examining my faults with such a critical magnifying glass. Maybe I can learn to stop picking away at every little blemish I find. There must be a happy medium between trying to improve myself and despairing over my weaknesses. Surely I am worthy of my own forgiveness and loving thoughts.
So in response to Jill's challenge to overcome negative self-talk, I am committing to be kinder to myself. It seems a daunting task to break this nasty little habit I have, but I think I deserve it.
24 comments:
i love part 2!! thanks for posting. why am i hestitant to *give up* my negative self-talk? it's something of a bizarre security blanket, i think.
ack, i never imagined i would get so much from these challenges!!
You can do it Michelle!
AMEN!! Everything you said about the tendency to look at ourselves negatively is so true. I'm trying to kick the habit also, but wow! what a job I have in front of me. Good luck to you! I think you are so great! I look forward to your blog everyday!
You deserve to get rid of your habit of being unkind to yourself. Sadly so do I, but can't imagine myself without all of the Negative Nelly comments to myself.
You can do this. Thanks for sharing.
"to me, your'e not" ! Enough said.
Or, "to me, you are"!
Great follow-up post. I love the idea of stepping back and removing the magnifying glass. We are our own worst enemy and I love Jill's call to action.
Maybe if we looked at ourselves the way our Heavenly Father sees us we wouldn't have the tendency or desire to be so hard on ourselves. I always think that to myself but then get to discouraged when I look in the mirror and see all the blemishes I never had growing up but now have from having babies.
I love that everyone is taking action to stop this negativity. I really want to be on the band wagon. How empowering it would be to feel really good about ourselves no matter what!
You definitely deserve it! You have fabulous hair so it's hard to listen to you speak ill of it (ha) and you have great skin, perfect lips, and on and on. No more negative self talk!
woowoo! love it!
yesterday I wrote "do we see what others see when we look in the mirror?
i said no and on some days that is good thing b/c a lot of times, we are not kind to ourselves so kudos to you, michelle!
True true. My negativity seems to be chaneled into my parenting skills lately...hmmm. Here's to optimistic oogling.
Great post Michelle! I love the commitment you have made. Blogging will help you, there is so much support here. I know you can do it!
I've been checking in to your blog for a few weeks now & am continually amazed by your creativity & writing. I love your two mirror, mirrors. I think I could have written many. So much was brought to mind with this challenge. Thank you for sharing yourself!
My first instinct is to tell you that your skin is so great because you don't have 1/2 the wrinkles I do and I am younger than you. But wait a darn minute, that is exactly your point. I am SO good at putting myself down. Thank for making me more aware!
I think it is a fascinating concept that we have a very hard time forgiving ourselves. It makes me wonder if when we are judge at the judgment bar if most of the judging will come from us knowing we cannot face God unclean. Will we know or just be too hard on ourself? I tend to think the latter but don't know, just some food for thought.
I too want to be better at forgiving myself, it's always the hardest step for me, and take the challenge of overcome negative thoughts and remember who I truly am.
Love part 2! I am continually amazed at our ability to see the insides and outsides of others with kinder eyes than those we turn on ourselves. A great commitment you are makings to yourself!
I can so relate to your post. Your blog always speaks to me and I love that. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
Hear, hear! I will follow your lead :)
Oh, and you do have wonderful hair. It is just like my sister's and I have coveted it for years!
Amen. The only person I am truly critical of is myself.
love that you did part du!
and you know i would trade hair with you any day of the week and twice on wednesday
hey thanks for my good mail today!!
I loved your part 2. Lelly's challenges have really proven to be so introspective. I think it's great that we can all take a journey toward more positive feelings about ourselves together.
I hope everything went well with Eva today.
wow can i relate to your thoughts here! may i just say, "amen!" to it all.
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