The Power of Perception and Affirmations

There was a time when I’d catch a glimpse of my reflection and mutter “ugh” not out loud, but to myself. “Ugh,” ( that my arms were too puffy), “ugh” (that that my boobs aren’t as perky), “ugh” (that my hair doesn’t look the way I want it to look). And on, and on and on.

And each time, that sound in my head would become louder and louder.  I was in such a bad state of self-loathing over my perceived flaws and I was in such desperation to stop feeling that way.  I just wanted the freedom to be me and love the skin I was in, so I made the decision to work on myself from the inside out, to stop all the other behaviors surrounding my appearance that signaled “not enoughness,” to lean into the self-love and self-care, and to come into acceptance of those parts of me I once loathed.

And you know what?  Along the way, I realized something.  I realized that nothing I do to the outside of my body will ever make me feel enough.  Beautiful enough.  Worthy enough. Validated enough.  That it was all an inside job.    It wasn’t until I started doing the internal work, making the mindset shifts,  refusing to no longer allow mainstream society to influence me,  that I started to feel better about myself- about who I was and about how I looked.

One of the tools that has helped me with my internal change work was writing affirmations on the mirror with a dry erase marker. This is a tool I still use to this day. I’d see the affirmation multiple times a day, as the first thing I’d see as I brushed my teeth in the morning, the last thing I’d see doing my night time routine, etc.  I’d keep that affirmation up until I started to believe it and started to feel relief.

I also changed my perception and reminded myself that every single human being has flaws and parts we love about ourselves, and other parts that we don’t love so much.  And that’s okay.  When I fully comprehended and internalized that no human being is perfect, and that I am not perfect,  I started feeling more in touch with my humanness as well as with humanity.  Again, there was this kind of freedom that I had experienced along with the self-acceptance.

I started to rediscover things that brought me joy and that added real value to my life. I realized that I was a fantastic cook (aka I follow recipes REALLY well). I enjoy travel, taking action steps towards a creative endeavor and so, so much more. But most importantly, helping others through my experience has brought me a feeling of true worthiness and value. Knowing that I can be a source of strength and support for someone else is a feeling unlike any other.

Today, I love my reflection because I know that my beauty and worth was consciously created from the inside out.