Be Your Own Hero

mctgarcia photography

I've adopted these words as a mantra to help me when my mind wanders into negativity land:

"We are our own dragons as well as our own heroes, 

we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves. " 

-author Tom Robbins

With so many thoughts buzzing around inside our heads, we're bound to encounter a toxic thought or two. But how do we defend ourselves from ourselves?

Case in point: it's a sad fact that chauvinistic media has distorted how women view their bodies. But both women and men ruthlessly scrutinize themselves in front of the mirror. I've heard friends say, "I look fat, I'm getting old, I'm losing my hair,” even when it couldn't be farther from the truth. This loose talk seems harmless, but it seeps into our consciousness and dissolves our self esteem without us even realizing it.

Just because a negative thought exists, that doesn't make it true. We've got to get smarter about recognizing the inner trickster...that voice that makes excuses, plays con games, and tells us that we don't measure up. When an internal bully rolls around, we've gotta stay solid in who we are and ask, “What is it that I'm trying to measure up to anyway?”

My personal negativity cleanse has paid off for me. By training myself to disregard the bad and focus on the good, it's almost second nature. My goal is to embrace it all—good and bad, to love the world, love myself, feel good sometimes, feel bad sometimes, and appreciate everything for what it is: experience. Striving to be a good person gives me inner peace and I proudly am my own hero, my own mentor, my own knight in shining armor.

Don't be a dragon; be your own inspiration. Repeat that promise to yourself and maybe even hang a reminder on the mirror. Instead of dwelling on body image, let's all open our eyes to the beautiful people we truly are.