Two Cents

"Don't let someone else's opinion of you become your reality." Les Brown

The attitudes, opinions and words of the parents are a young child's truth. He is a good boy because mommy says he is. The experts say this is developmentally appropriate, but as the child grows, this changes. Some of us adults still find our reality in the opinions of those around us. I think we need to grow up.

Powerful, wealthy people sometimes live in an isolated, insulated world, where those around them shield them from the truth. The minions pump them up and tell them how great they are. Their agenda is obviously self-serving. Everyone is afraid to tell the emperor he is naked.

Many people brush off compliments and praise, but soak up the negative like a sponge. There's nothing wrong with letting someone throw in his 2 cents, but we should be careful to remember it's just an opinion and not necessarily the truth. Some of us take other folks' viewpoints about ourselves and run with them. We repeat their words over and over until it we believe it. We state it as a fact. The next time you make a declarative statement about yourself such as "I'm not good with money," or "I'm not athletic," take a moment. Why do you say that? It is really a fact, or are you parroting what someone else said about you a long time ago?

I don't think it's helpful to give other people that much power over your life.

Susan