Challenge Your Self- Perception

It’s amazing how something that appears on the surface to be so simple can completely change the way you view yourself.

Many of the ladies of my family have thick muscular legs. It’s a family trait. Let’s just say that we don’t always look upon our legs in the most favorable light. For most of my life I hated the bulky legs I’d inherited. I would complain often about the lack of wide-calf knee boots that didn’t puddle at the ankle or just look terrible and cheap.

One day, the way I viewed myself completely changed with one simple encounter. I was walking from a parking garage when a lady came up to me and said, “I just wanted to tell you, not to be weird or anything, but I think you have great legs and I am Oh-So-Jealous of them.” I was flabbergasted, stammering my thanks as she walked away. These legs I had disparaged and complained about all my life?? The appendages I constantly criticized?

Those words set off a small chain reaction. Slowly, I began to appreciate, then love, my legs. They were strong and allowed me to walk and climb stairs, and later in my journey, run half-marathons. With the little spark those words set off, other opinions about my own body began to change. If I could be THAT wrong about how I perceived one part of myself, how wrong could I be about others? Or even about how I perceived my abilities, skills, talents?

How many inaccurate self-perceptions do we carry around about ourselves? About our physical appearance, our abilities (imposter syndrome…), or even about how we think other people see us? The realization I had in that moment was less about my legs, and more about the inaccuracy in the way I saw myself .

I challenge you to challenge your negative self-perceptions, shut down your negative self-talk. And the next time you see someone whose skills, abilities, or even…(gasp!)legs cause you to feel a strong bolt of envy or awe, tell them. It may just rock their worldview.