Mirror

Recently I had the opportunity to work with high school students during a youth conference.  During my workshops, I gave the students a handout and on the backside, I had an outline of a handheld mirror.  I asked the students to write how they think the world views them on the outside of the image.  Then for the inside, the part of the mirror that stares right back, I asked them to write how they view themselves.  As we began discussing the exercises, I came to realize that most of them had more critical and negative statements in the center of the mirror than the outside.  The students focused on their flaws more than their positives.

Oh, how easy it is to criticize ourselves!  How often do you find yourself listing what you can do wrong more than what you can do right? How often do you find it hard to find positive things to tell yourself about you? For every negative comment you tell yourself in the mirror, you should offset it by at least one positive statement.  Eventually, your mindset will begin to shift and instead of searching for positive compliments about yourself, they will begin to flow smoothly and effortlessly.  Remember, when you can acknowledge and focus on your strengths, you give yourself the ability to move on from your shortcomings.

I encourage you to practice this exercise and see where you stand.  Do you view yourself better, worse, or the same as the world views you?  You never know, the statements you put down may shock you and help you change your perspective of yourself.