If I was ever given a gift it was the gift of now caring what other people thought.
My parents instilled that in me as child and then validated it as a youth.
I didn’t care if people made fun of me for my hair or clothes or how I spoke or the way I walked.
Maybe I truly didn’t care or maybe I was just too busy doing what I wanted to do.
I was alwasy focused on who I wanted to be.
First I was a G.I. Joe…
Then I was a baseball player….
Then I was a football player….
Then a basketball player….
Then a college basketball Player….
Then I was “at the Naval Academy” (whatever that means)….
Then I was a Naval Officer….
Then I was a BUDs wanna be….
Then I was a gym owner….
But there was always one person that would get to me.
One person that wouldn’t let me live down mistakes, never let me let go of the past.
In my entire that that was the only person that I ever let get to me.
It was Me…….and still is today.
Les Brown, who I’ve talked about before has a great quote:
“Someone else’s opinion of you does not have to become your reality”
It took a lot of mistakes but I’ve figured some of that out, just not all of it.
The only difference now is I recognize that guy when I see him and I go the other way
That includes our opinion of ourselves.
We are our own biggest critics and always will be, we just have to recognize it
Don’t be so hard on yourself, but learn from you mistakes
Give your own cheerleader, but don’t let it turn to admiration
Give yourself the grace to fall down and the encouragement to get back up
What if you were your biggest critic and your greatest fan????
