I want to talk about labels, ones others give us and ones we give ourselves. Ones that we take and make into badges and wear them, some of us, letting them define who we are.
I'm here to say don't.
I'm here to say that what happens to you doesn't become you, it doesn't encompass you or dictate who you are as a person, not without your ok. Not without your consent. Now I'm not saying that these events, relationships "successful" or "failed", moments of love and loss, a first kiss or the death of a loved one don't contribute to shaping who you are, that they don't impact you in very real and deeply profound ways. All of these things give you an opportunity to shape yourself, through promise, through pain, or through fear. You either choose to grow and overcome, to keep hope alive and live everyday preparing for the next good thing, or to accept defeat, to succumb to the weight of whatever knocked you down, and broke your heart and stay there, preparing for the next bad thing. You choose life, now, here, present. Or you choose to live as the walking dead, wasting every single precious moment that you have that could have been more...
Labels.... badges... identity. What do you want to identify yourself with? Who are you?
Because I need to tell you something ... You are more than just a pretty face. You are more than your bank account. You are more than your race. You are more than your sexual orientation. You are more than your divorce. You are more than your depression. You are more than your disability. You are more than your rape. You are more than your abortion. You are more than the abuse that you endured. You are more than the leftovers of someones else's mistakes and bad choices and failings, and YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR OWN.
You are not fat, or ugly, or stupid, or weak. Or unworthy. Or unwanted. Or unseen.
So today, ask yourself, "who am I?" And when you answer be good to yourself, be kind, be loving, be compassionate, be supportive, be all the things you would be to someone that you loved above all else.
Because you deserve that same kind of love, and acceptance and encouragement.
More importantly stop looking for it in others, because your own opinion of yourself is the one that matters most, and other people will always fall short, and disappoint you at sometime, they are human. You need to be able to have self-sustaining love for your own self, then when you give your love to another it won't be because you need it from them in return, because you are empty, it will be because you are so full that you can't help but give it away.
I'm here to say don't.
I'm here to say that what happens to you doesn't become you, it doesn't encompass you or dictate who you are as a person, not without your ok. Not without your consent. Now I'm not saying that these events, relationships "successful" or "failed", moments of love and loss, a first kiss or the death of a loved one don't contribute to shaping who you are, that they don't impact you in very real and deeply profound ways. All of these things give you an opportunity to shape yourself, through promise, through pain, or through fear. You either choose to grow and overcome, to keep hope alive and live everyday preparing for the next good thing, or to accept defeat, to succumb to the weight of whatever knocked you down, and broke your heart and stay there, preparing for the next bad thing. You choose life, now, here, present. Or you choose to live as the walking dead, wasting every single precious moment that you have that could have been more...
Labels.... badges... identity. What do you want to identify yourself with? Who are you?
Because I need to tell you something ... You are more than just a pretty face. You are more than your bank account. You are more than your race. You are more than your sexual orientation. You are more than your divorce. You are more than your depression. You are more than your disability. You are more than your rape. You are more than your abortion. You are more than the abuse that you endured. You are more than the leftovers of someones else's mistakes and bad choices and failings, and YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR OWN.
You are not fat, or ugly, or stupid, or weak. Or unworthy. Or unwanted. Or unseen.
So today, ask yourself, "who am I?" And when you answer be good to yourself, be kind, be loving, be compassionate, be supportive, be all the things you would be to someone that you loved above all else.
Because you deserve that same kind of love, and acceptance and encouragement.
More importantly stop looking for it in others, because your own opinion of yourself is the one that matters most, and other people will always fall short, and disappoint you at sometime, they are human. You need to be able to have self-sustaining love for your own self, then when you give your love to another it won't be because you need it from them in return, because you are empty, it will be because you are so full that you can't help but give it away.
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