Self Image and Fear

It has been said that we view life one of two ways, either out of fear or out of love. We must look at our personal self. Whether it is in a mirror or through the words of others, it will always be about what or who we are and how we perceive that image. Remember, at this point is it purely an analysis based on the opinions and past experiences of the one who is telling us how they perceive us.

Do we trust their judgment? Do we question our own? Do we react out of fear because we do not truly know who we are in the deep down regions of our heart?

Take your average person yes- you are correct, there are no average anythings- but math scores. I do, however, believe that there are only about twelve standard body types in the world and all others are built on the combinations of those twelve.

Think for a moment have you ever seen someone whom you know very well, even spoken outright to them, only to find out they were NOT that person? You were embarrassed, but it was an easily made mistake. They looked just like the person for whom you mistook them.

How many times have you been told that you remind someone of their Aunt or Uncle or cousin? You look just like my Uncle Jimmy, says a young woman to me on this particular day. I thanked her, and then asked, That was a nice thing to say, right? I was half kidding; the rest was more out of curiosity. This has happened to me many times!

I have been plagued for decades, not truly recognizing my virtues. It took a long hard look into the past with photos galore of me as a child to a young man, ad infinitum. For me to see that I was never as fat as I had always thought (and thus tried to cover up) and that I was never as lacking in good looks as I reckoned myself to be, was an epiphany. I am pleasant looking even in these more mature years. But the impact for me here is that I never truly recognized myself as being nice to look at until years later, while coming to grips with the fact it is not vain to understand a reality.

I am not sure I would have known what to do with my youthful good looks. I always felt I was too heavy. I wasn't. I always thought maybe I shouldn't do certain things, but I tried anyway. I did have enough adventure inside me that I was not limited from trying anything I wanted.

It was not until I ballooned into a weight that put me in the obese category when I was in my mid-thirties, that things I had thought were true before about

• 1
• 2
• next page >>

---

Add your voice

Know something about Image of self?
We want to hear your view. Write now!