In the world today, we are being encouraged by life coaches and motivational speakers to embrace our “authentic self”. In other words to practice self-love. But who is the “self” we are being encouraged to embrace?

We are aware that we have evolved over time and the person we are today has been shaped by all our experiences. The characteristics we have that are admired by those around us, were developed as a result of the challenges we have had to overcome.

From these experiences we developed confidence in our judgment: by pushing through negative talk and our experiences of failure. Therefore, the person we have become is a direct result of our experiences, both good and bad.

 

Throughout the day, we invite you to revisit this quote. Below are a few questions you may wish to ask yourself, and those who journal may find them especially useful:

• What do I think about my past experiences generally?
• What do I think about the difficult experiences that I have successfully overcome?
• What do I think about the difficult experiences for which the outcome was not what I had hoped?

 

 

Best wishes and have a great day!