We all know the impact others have on us. When someone tells us how great a colour looks on us, we unconsciously wear more of it. If someone tells us we are ‘crap’ at something, like drawing or playing a sport, many of us doubt our abilities and lose interest in pursuing it further.
All too often what we believe is our truth originated in a comment or someone else's perception of who we are and what we are capable of.
As children we're told some of our dreams are ridiculous, that they can't possibly come true, that we aren't clever or creative enough. We're told not to be greedy, not to talk too loud or draw attention to ourselves. Good boys/girls don't do that and you don't want to be a bad girl/boy, do you?
If we had psychic gifts and weren't lucky enough to be born into a family that nurtured this, we soon learned to hide it, to reject our 'imaginary friends' and close off from our magical side. For years we towed the line, we pretended to be all the things our family and elders wanted. As time went by, we forgot who we were, how amazing, magnificent and unique we were.
We went to school and learnt that we needed to conform or be 'the same', we weren't always encouraged to have original thoughts or to know more than the person who taught us. We tried all sorts of activities and it was usually the teachers who decided whether we were any good at them. Enjoying something wasn't in the same category as succeding at it. Those that were up to the standard teachers needed were nurtured, while many others fell by the wayside.
By the time we went out into the workforce, a lot of us were 'shaped and molded', we weren't our true selves, we weren't even sure how to be ourselves. Peer pressure evolved as we did. As we grew older we discovered there were many peer groups that could stifle our originality, school had only been the beginning.
Then one day, we wake up! We realise we aren't living our truth, we know there's more to us than is visible to others. The problem is that not only are we unsure how to access this person, we're not even sure we'll like him/her...after all, isn't that why society had squashed them down, so they wouldn't escape?
Gradually, ever so gradually we unpack the person within, the magical and magnificent person that was there all along. Sometimes we saw slivers of them during our life, but now we release them and allow them to 'be'. We step into us!
Finding ourselves is about finally accepting the who of ourselves, warts and all.
So today, and everyday, I encourage you to embrace all of who you are, to acknowledge and celebrate your magnificence and to shed those outdated belief systems that prevent you from being You!
You're probably wondering about the significance of the picture at the top of this blog. When I was about 7, I painted a tree for art class, telling my teacher I had seen this tree and wanted one just like it. My teacher told me it was rubbish, that trees didn't look like that, I couldn't possibly have seen one like that and I was obviously a liar. She then said it wasn't even pretty and I would never be an artist. I never painted or drew again until I was in my twenties.
Yesterday, while I was surfing the internet, I came across this picture of the Tree of Life. It was just how I remembered it! What a lot of years I wasted believing I couldn't enjoy art because of one person's belief system.
...and how sad I couldn't tell her where I remembered it from.....! ;-P
with love, respect and integrity
Cherie xx
All too often what we believe is our truth originated in a comment or someone else's perception of who we are and what we are capable of.
As children we're told some of our dreams are ridiculous, that they can't possibly come true, that we aren't clever or creative enough. We're told not to be greedy, not to talk too loud or draw attention to ourselves. Good boys/girls don't do that and you don't want to be a bad girl/boy, do you?
If we had psychic gifts and weren't lucky enough to be born into a family that nurtured this, we soon learned to hide it, to reject our 'imaginary friends' and close off from our magical side. For years we towed the line, we pretended to be all the things our family and elders wanted. As time went by, we forgot who we were, how amazing, magnificent and unique we were.
We went to school and learnt that we needed to conform or be 'the same', we weren't always encouraged to have original thoughts or to know more than the person who taught us. We tried all sorts of activities and it was usually the teachers who decided whether we were any good at them. Enjoying something wasn't in the same category as succeding at it. Those that were up to the standard teachers needed were nurtured, while many others fell by the wayside.
By the time we went out into the workforce, a lot of us were 'shaped and molded', we weren't our true selves, we weren't even sure how to be ourselves. Peer pressure evolved as we did. As we grew older we discovered there were many peer groups that could stifle our originality, school had only been the beginning.
Then one day, we wake up! We realise we aren't living our truth, we know there's more to us than is visible to others. The problem is that not only are we unsure how to access this person, we're not even sure we'll like him/her...after all, isn't that why society had squashed them down, so they wouldn't escape?
Gradually, ever so gradually we unpack the person within, the magical and magnificent person that was there all along. Sometimes we saw slivers of them during our life, but now we release them and allow them to 'be'. We step into us!
Finding ourselves is about finally accepting the who of ourselves, warts and all.
So today, and everyday, I encourage you to embrace all of who you are, to acknowledge and celebrate your magnificence and to shed those outdated belief systems that prevent you from being You!
You're probably wondering about the significance of the picture at the top of this blog. When I was about 7, I painted a tree for art class, telling my teacher I had seen this tree and wanted one just like it. My teacher told me it was rubbish, that trees didn't look like that, I couldn't possibly have seen one like that and I was obviously a liar. She then said it wasn't even pretty and I would never be an artist. I never painted or drew again until I was in my twenties.
Yesterday, while I was surfing the internet, I came across this picture of the Tree of Life. It was just how I remembered it! What a lot of years I wasted believing I couldn't enjoy art because of one person's belief system.
...and how sad I couldn't tell her where I remembered it from.....! ;-P
with love, respect and integrity
Cherie xx
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