Your Own Worst Critic
Are you happy with who you are? Are you content with your own faults? Does your worth as a person come solely from the comments of others?
We live in a very judgemental and critical world where it's all too easy to take to heart the messages that tell us we're not good enough as we are; that we need to lose weight, gain weight, be younger, be older, dress nicer, have lighter skin, have darker skin, be taller, be shorter, be smarter, not be so smart...
Where does it end?! When are we just "good enough"? Is there ever a point where we can be just the right age, weight, gender, skin tone, height, athletic build, and intelligence? What's worse though than being judged or picked on by others, especially for things that are beyond our control, is when we do it to ourselves.
Instead of being our own best friends, we act like our own worst enemies. We criticize and critique ourselves often in ways that are far worse than what anyone else would do. That out of place hair, that skin tag, the number of freckles, the amount of body hair, our muscle tone, muffin tops, skin redness, bumps and bruises, scars, and birthmarks are all things that we're fully aware of. In fact we're usually more aware of them and much more sensitive to them than anyone around us.
Have you ever fretted about a pimple that nobody else noticed? Or worried about a birthmark that nobody else cared about? Have you ever driven yourself crazy trying to get ready to go out only to feel like you just can't get yourself to look quite right? Why do we do this to ourselves? What purpose does it serve to cause ourselves this type of angst?
Ironically while we may worry ourselves sick about our imperfections, it's often those same imperfections that attract other people to us. Nobody is perfect and when others realize that you're not perfect either, they're actually more likely to feel that you can relate to them than if you always came across as perfectly kept and groomed, never wrong, stronger, smarter, and more successful than anybody and everybody else.