When I was a pre-teen I was called a loser by the cool girls in 5th grade.
At the time this felt like a humiliating truth I hadn’t yet known about myself.
I gave those girls so much power for so many years.
Even as an adult, I allowed them to have authority over my own knowing and that given title “loser” haunted me for decades.
It was something I believed.
And was ashamed of.
And tried to hide from everyone.
Now I ask.
Was I a loser?
Or did I have my magical innocence and my child-like nature intact a little longer than those girls had?
When I was in my 20s a friend said I was aloof.
She said it so matter of fact that I allowed this word to be branded onto my psyche for some time.
Now I ask.
Am I aloof?
Or am I simply unrelatable because I am more unattached to the world of form and the drama of the 3rd dimension than most people?
When I was in my 30s someone in my extended in-law family said to another family member that I was intimidating.
When it got back to me was genuinely shocked, confused and hurt by this.
Now I ask.
Was I intimidating?
Or am I unapologetically able to stand in my power and light which made this person uncomfortable?
At times throughout my life, my mother has called me selfish.
Am I selfish?
Or have I been unwilling to betray myself and my sovereignty to gain her approval and bend to the demands of HER will.
A few years ago, a colleague assessed that I was a “tad bit” of a loner.
I knew she was holding back and even though the words were not traditionally hurtful this assessment of me still stung.
A loner. I began to believe something was wrong with me and that I should change to be more social.
Now I ask.
Am I a loner?
Or do I have a genuine, rich relationship with my inner self and actually prefer to spend quality time with ME rather than others?
******************************
My point in sharing this is this.
How many of you have been hurt by something someone else said about you?
Probably everyone at some point.
But here’s what I know now that I didn’t know then.
EVERYONE and ANYONE who perceives you is experiencing you through their own lens.
We are all being projected upon all the time.
ALL the freaking time!
Another person CANNOT experience you outside of their own experience.
Their perception of you has very little to do with you, as you are a mirror for them of themselves.
Honestly, this game of life and our whole existence is like a house of mirrors.
Rather than being overly concerned with how each of us is perceived, maybe the real inner work lies in how we perceive others.
Because your criticism of another is pointing to something in yourself. Always.
Remember too, that you have CHOICE.
You have a choice over how to see any situation.
There is always a paradox. There are always many perspectives.
Perhaps someone’s projection of you is helpful in terms of your growth. Cheers then!
But if you feel less than, deflated, and made smaller by someone else’s view of you, stop, drop and remember you have a choice.
Ask yourself if there is another way to see yourself.
Through the eyes of the inner Christ.
Through the merciful eyes of the heart.