Who told you?

For any negative opinion you have about yourself, I recommend you ask yourself this question: Who told you?

I know way too many people who say they don’t love themselves. In fact, there are people who hate themselves. Who told you that you’re not lovable? Who told you to hate yourself?

If you’ve ever been around kids, you know that hate isn’t inherent. Kids learn to hate people, things, and situations. Which also means, throughout their lives, people can learn to not love themselves.

When you ask the person why they don’t love themselves, they rattle off their reasons. Majority of the time, they:

• Hold grudges against themselves for past transgressions that they would forgive someone else for committing
• Have a negative, inaccurate picture of themselves due to the negative criticisms they’ve received over their lifetime
• Have learned to dislike or hate themselves because they don’t have X, Y, Z characteristics like so-and-so

Who told you that you need to be someone else? Who told you that you need to act like someone else? Who told you that you need to look like someone else? Who told you?

An example too many of us relate to is we don’t think we’re pretty or beautiful or handsome or some other description that denotes us being attractive.

Who told you that you aren’t attractive as you are? And, just as importantly, why do you care about their opinion?

For most of us, the biggest culprit for our negative self-image is due to images constantly depicted on television, magazines, internet, and other forms of social media.

Who told you their opinion of you matters?

Who cares what some designer has to say if their spewing negativity and ignorance by saying they only design for a certain body type? Who cares what some photographer or editor has to say if they believe a person can only one look one way? Ever notice how, a lot of these designers/photographs/editors/directors/etc. don’t even look the way they say a person should look? They sound too closed-minded to be bothered to listen to. Why does their opinion matter to you?

I guarantee, most of the images you aspire to look like are so photoshopped that even those models don’t look like their pictures. And even if they do look that way, so what?

Who told you there’s only one version of beauty?

If you look at the world around you, you’ll constantly see drastic opposites that are equally majestic. The oceans and deserts, canyons and mountains, grasslands and forests are all equally breathtaking. Flowers and weeds, trees and bushes, succulents and cacti of all different species are each stunning in their own right. All of the phases of the moon and the positions of the sun are wondrous sights to behold. Towering buildings of large cities, quaint small towns, old structures of varying styles, and new modern architecture are each an amazing place to behold.

You get the idea.

People should be viewed in the same manner when it comes to appreciating our differences. People of every shape, size, color, ethnicity, background, and all of those other fantastic traits the create each of us are beautiful and amazing and majestic. Each of us is attractive in our own right. Each of us is a miracle.

Truth is, most people find different kinds of people who look vastly different from one another attractive.

And regarding the people in your life who critique your appearance, who told you to believe them? Who told you their opinion matters?

And if you are still convinced that you are not beautiful or attractive, who told you that you had to be attractive in order to be treated with love and respect by others? Who told you that you had to be beautiful in order to love yourself? Even if you are the most “hideous” person on the face of the planet, you are still worthy of love and respect. You still deserve to show yourself love.

You can take this question and apply to all aspects of your life.

Who told you that you’re not a good writer? Who told you that you can’t succeed? Who told you that you aren’t good enough? Who told you that you won’t be able to graduate?

And why does their opinion matter? None of us are perfect. These people giving you their opinions aren’t perfect, so why treat their opinion as truth? They can be wrong, so don’t feed into their incorrect belief.

Do you know the only times opinions matter? When they are positive and when they are constructive.

For all those who are negative or give harmful and damaging criticism about you, don’t believe their bullshit.

And remember, for any negative views you have about yourself, or the world for that matter, ask yourself: Who told you?

#whotoldyou #loveyourself #youareworthy #youmatter #youareamiracle #newdaychiropractic #drchestencantrell #rockymountva