THROUGH THE MIRRORING EYES....

My continued focus on self-awareness has empowered me to constantly look back at the events of my life and to gradually stop defining myself through the mirroring eyes of others. Here is a brief account of my journey in the past six months.

To begin with I learned to detach my self-worth from the opinion and approval of others and I stopped looking for their hard to get attention or love. This was a huge realization for me because as a child and while growing up, I had learned to do the opposite.

I learned to protect my boundaries by having my own standards and by letting go of any type of blame. This helped me get rid of my defensive attitude, which was ready to pop up, every single time I was criticized.

I learned to deal with my fear of disapproval, and I opened the channels for my authentic self-expression. As a result, I stopped alienating myself and I started to connect with others around me and feel the impact of belonging.

I learned to let go of perfectionism in me and to start loving myself as the imperfect person that I was. How could I love other people if I did not have self-love and self-compassion as pre-requisites? My joy from this realization is immeasurable.

I gained the courage to face and to own my vulnerabilities and to talk about it with my loved ones and others. This deepened my sense of clarity about who I am and what I need to do in order to gain resilience. I come from a culture that people rarely share or talk about themselves, their fear being that they will be wrongly judged. 

Here I am now, getting grounded in an inner life that is growing in richness and in providing the freedom of mind that I need. I owe everything to my teachers, present and past, and from whom I learned either in person or by reading their writings.

The year 2013 is coming to an end but my journey on this path is only beginning. I have gratitude for life and for being able to see myself and others only through the mirroring eyes of love and compassion.

To be continued….