How You See Yourself Is How Others Will See You

Woman Standing in Front of a Street Art Wall
Photo by Lisa Folios

How do you see yourself? Do you see yourself as a positive person? Do you see yourself as a loser? Do you see yourself as a failure? Or do you see yourself as a powerful person?

You cannot control how other people see you. But you can control how you see yourself. It is important to believe in yourself. It is important to love yourself. It is important to live your life the way you want to live it. How you see yourself is necessary. Live your life. Don’t hide your life.

How you see yourself is important. Why is that? Because you can’t please everybody. You can’t make everybody happy. You can only make yourself happy. You do that by doing the things that really make you happy.

Eric Hoffer famously said, “It is not love of self but hatred of self which is at the root of the troubles that afflict our world. We hate others when we hate ourselves. We are tolerant toward others when we tolerate ourselves. We forgive others when we forgive ourselves. We are prone to sacrifice others when we are ready to sacrifice ourselves.” The message here is: How you treat yourself is exactly how other people will treat you. How you see yourself is exactly how other people will see you. If you want to other people to treat you with love, respect, you must first treat them with love and respect.

Accept Everything About Yourself

Teal Steel Door Near Plants
Photo by Nicolas Postiglioni

Self-acceptance is self-love. Self-love is the beginning of your life. It doesn’t matter what you have been through in your life. It doesn’t matter where you are now. What really matters is you. You matter. Your life matters. Your self-worth matters.

No matter what you may have been through, don’t let that define your life. Don’t let your past mistakes define you. Because you are not your mistakes. You are you. You are unique. You are smarter, better, stronger than your mistakes. Do not define your life by your mistakes, by your failures, or by your disappointments. Define your life by your successes. Define your life by what you have done right, by your victories.

Our lives are not without failures. Our lives are not without mistakes. Our lives are not without weaknesses. But you must accept them and and manage to live with them. Eric Hoffer famously said, “You must accept certain unlovely things about yourself- and manage to live with them. The atonement for such an acceptance is that you make allowances for others- that you cleanse yourself of the sin of self-righteousness.” He adds: “The end comes when we no longer talk with ourselves. It is the end of genuine thinking, and the beginning of the final loneliness.”

Do not let the opinions of other people to control your life. Do not listen to other people’s opinions. Listen to yourself. Listen to your inner self. Listen to your body. Listen to your soul. It doesn’t matter what people are saying about you. Focus on yourself. Focus on where you are going. Where you are going matters. Your actions matter. If you really want to achieve your purpose, you must listen to yourself. Can you do it?