We live in a world that is very much ‘Mirror Mirror on the Wall – Who is the Fairest of Us All’? – and we still wonder why we are not happy.
In comparing ourselves to others – through magazines, Instagram, YouTube, TV – whatever medium or platform we use – we are eroding our own joy, and our unique self-expression.
Because we are wired to find fault with ourselves, it seems.
Always striving to look better, be better. But what if we could stop and take inventory:
- We are alive
- And we have made it to here
That in itself is the miracle.
And quoting Carl Jung:
‘the value of a person is never expressed in his relation to others but consists in itself.’
Yoga, Instagram and Me
Maybe none of this applies to you – and well done, you are your own champion.
But what sparked this awareness in me, happened as I was scrolling through Instagram. And let me say, despite knowing all this, I still got hitched.
Awed by the stunning, perfect yogi’s executing Yoga asanas.
After about 2 minutes, the internal critic paid me a visit, telling me all sorts of things:
- you can’t do that pose
- you don’t look like that
- you will have to deepen your practice
- and probably go for a whole body overhaul
The thing is – if we are not familiar or aware of our internal dialogue, then we keep on feeding these negative messages to ourselves.
Just Imagine What the Body Must Feel
Everytime we bombard it with the ‘you’re just not good enough’ spiel – let alone what the heart is going through! Not to mention the brain…
I remember the work of Dr Masaru Emoto
“To give your positive or negative attention to something is a way of giving energy. The most damaging form of behavior is withholding your attention.”
― Masaru Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water
“If you feel lost, disappointed, hesitant, or weak, return to yourself, to who you are, here and now and when you get there, you will discover yourself, like a lotus flower in full bloom, even in a muddy pond, beautiful and strong.”
― Masaru Emoto, Secret Life of Water
The thing is, we are actually here for us.
Ok, whoever is having a cadenza right now, have it.
We Are Here for Us
We are here to express our uniqueness.
To experience OUR lives, not Johnny Depp’s.
We are here to to love ourselves, exactly as we are.
We are here to enjoy our own company – to nourish our bodies – and nurture our hearts.
To stand in awe and appreciation of ourselves.
And Then
Once we are filled up with our own joy, our own love and our own nurture – then we have something to share.
Anything less will be born from either co-dependency, or a desperation to feel needed.
Looking at ourselves from this perspective, surely we can recognise the futility of comparison.
No one else.
And what more exciting adventure can there be than to get to know the one being who will always be with me.
Even through death.
The Unrepentant Wayfarer 