Be Where Your Feet Are

A hard truth: Our lives are only projections of the mental images and thoughts we repeatedly tell ourselves. What does your outer world look like? The good news is, if your outer world doesn’t look the way you want it to, it can be changed. Think of it like a movie theater projector. Inside the little box is the inner workings of a machine, like your mind. And the big screen is just a projection of what is being played inside that tiny box, almost like your life. Your mind and your thoughts dictate your behaviors and the world around you. So how do you change a projection you don’t like? It starts with you. Specifically your thoughts. When you begin to think new, positive thoughts, you will see your outer world start to change. 

So let me ask you, what kinds of stories are you projecting? What is the narrative you have told yourself? Or what stories have been told to you about yourself? Have you ever been told you just weren’t motivated or qualified enough? Did you ever hear that you weren’t good enough because of x, y, z reason? Did someone tell you that you’d never be able to make a certain amount of money, and would only ever be able to scrape by? What about thinking that accepting a compliment from someone somehow makes you conceited? Or that asking for things that you need or want is selfish? Did someone tell you that you had to dilute/diminish yourself so that others wouldn’t be embarrassed or uncomfortable? What about being made to believe that a health condition, disability or even old age renders you useless? Maybe you were made to think that your body needs to look a certain way to be beautiful and deserving of love. And any minor imperfection disqualifies you from a full, meaningful, and wonderful life. Not only what stories have been told to you, but more importantly what stories have you accepted and believed as true? (I’m underlining and italicizing because this is the most crucial part lol). Because it’s the thoughts/beliefs that we accept that take up space in our own brain and make us question ourselves. Do any of these resonate with you? If not, amazing! If they do, I encourage you to look at where these thoughts came from. Did you learn and accept them as a child? Was it something told to you in school? How about a friend or a partner later in life? Or a caregiver’s own view of the world that has now worked its way into yours. What about books, or movies, or … and this one is the worst, did it come from some random person/people on the internet? Where did they come from? 

This post isn’t meant to blame any specific person/people/things for the thoughts you currently have. This post is meant however, to uncover these thoughts/beliefs and act as an invitation to ask yourself if they are true and/or serving you? Let me answer that. No, they are not. These negative thoughts are what is known as limiting beliefs. And they cause more harm and distress than good. So we need to change them, but from a place of self compassion and love. This isn’t to say that you aren’t allowed to want to change aspects of your life. You absolutely can, and it’s what I’m trying to help you achieve right now, in this very post. The human species is meant to evolve, after all. But not from a negative space. You can want to change and still acknowledge and appreciate who and where you are right now. Because where you land is not where you will stay. Life is about duality. There can be both. 

I want you to think about someone you admire for a few minutes. Who comes to mind? Is it a professional athlete or an actor/actress or a public figure? Ask yourself if the person you admire says negative things to themselves or tears themselves down 24/7? Or lets the opinions of others get to them? They may have a good amount of negativity around them but they are able to drown that out. They have to. These people wouldn’t be in these positions today if their inner worlds (minds) were self deprecating. So why should you be any different? What if, instead of tearing yourself down, you loved and believed in yourself so much that the opinions/thoughts/beliefs of others just rolled off your back. Because you know who you are and all that you are capable of. So when those limiting beliefs roll in (ex. I can’t do that because x, y, z reason), say something positive and that you believe (ex. I have everything I need inside me right now to achieve all that I want). You have to give yourself a fighting chance. And the only way to do that is to change the narrative of your thoughts. It starts with you. 

So… be where your feet are. And don’t be afraid to grow roots so strong that they hold you firmly in place so that no one or thing can shake you. Roots are the foundations of who you are. They go beneath the surface and keep you upright. Without them, we are less resilient to life’s challenges and can easily be swayed. Weak roots are made from negative thoughts of oneself, but strong roots are made from a positive space of deep belief. So, reframe those negative thoughts into positive ones and watch your outer world radically change. 

This post, prompted by my recent interest in understanding how our precious mind works, was made for you. Anyone reading. Whoever this resonates with was meant to read it. But it was also meant for me, too. To remind and believe myself, that I have a voice worth sharing with the world. It has taken me a while to find the words, but thank you for being here, waiting, until I believed I had something worth sharing. 

xo Alex