When you look in the mirror, who do you see? Okay, sometimes I can’t believe the image I see in the mirror! Who is that person and just where did she come from???

All joking aside, how we truly view ourselves and describe ourselves has such an impact on our lives. Our self-perceptions influence who we believe we are, what we expect of and for ourselves, how we interact with the world around us, and how we expect others to treat us. Quite simply, how we “see” ourselves influences the quality of our lives in many ways.

So…Who do you think you are? That makes a difference! Our thinking – our self-talk – what we say to ourselves all day long – can be either helpful or sometimes very, very hurtful.  We make choices in our lives based on those thoughts! “Stinking thinking” – or “stinkin’ thinkin’” as I prefer to think of it – is term that originated in Alcoholics Anonymous and it has meaning for all of us. In the simplest terms, stinkin’ thinkin’ is negative self-talk. We can’t continually give ourselves negative messages and then expect to make positive choices.  If you’re doing that, cut it out!!

Muhammad Ali once revealed that, “I was saying ‘I am the greatest’ long before I believed it.” Can that acknowledgement in any way be a lesson for us?

We can choose what we believe about ourselves. While that might not be easy at times, it is essential to our self-confidence, our sense of peace, and our ability to maintain an optimistic perspective, especially as we grow older. Yes, positive expectations and a hopeful perspective can be learned. (Could that be a future goal?!)

Let’s have the audacity to do whatever it takes to think differently and recognize ourselves as the valuable human beings that we are!

Our happiness might just depend on it!  

So…kitten or lion, my friend??? Or maybe something else?!

♥