“I am ___.”

I see this statement often. I use this statement lately: “I am tired.” If we use this “I am ___” statement regularly, I think it’s important that we use it with caution. Obviously, when we see ourselves positively, that’s a good thing mostly. I say “mostly” because sometimes we go to extremes. Extremes of anything is often not a good thing.

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“Normal”

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We all have a level of functioning that works for us hopefully. We have extremes. Sometimes, we hit lows; sometimes, we are Leo DiCaprio on the Titanic on top of the world. Usually, however, there’s a middle ground.

What happens, though, when the blank is filled with negatives?

“I am stupid.”

“I am not enough.”

“I am undeserving.”

“I am a failure.”

“I am hopeless.”

“I am anxious.”

“I am depressed.”

“I am abused.”

“I am a victim.”

It gets scary when things become negative. We are in a world that is chock full of negative. China has taken what some may deem as extreme measures to counter perceived negativity. (Real-life Sims anyone?) When the positives shine, they can really stand out. But, so do the negatives.

If the world isn’t bombarding us with negatives, sometimes we do it to ourselves. In the last post, I talked about overcoming negativity. One thing that happens is we let this stuff define who we are. As I alluded to before, it’s a dot on our timeline rather than the whole timeline itself.

I have grown to believe in the power of language. The words we use can affect how we think, how we feel, and what we do. Maybe it’s our words; maybe it’s someone else’s. Either way, words are impactful. Our words can influence not only our own little world, but also the world around us. Words have power.

That said, how we define ourselves can help set us up for success and struggles. If you follow Jesus, for example, you can take comfort in how He sees you. There’s even a great song about it. Sometimes, it helps to give ourselves different perspectives so that we can see things differently. There are many verses out there about who God says we are.

If you don’t follow Jesus, you can do several things. Remember, we are not confined by what we do for our vocation. We aren’t confined by the struggles we face. We are not confined by what others say or we say. Maybe you struggle seeing yourself positively. Take your struggles and address them. Put the struggle in the past. “I’ve struggled with ___ in the past, but I am working on improving it by ___.” That takes the negative power away and puts emphasis on how you’re addressing the struggle.

Let’s say you’re just struggling seeing positives. Flip the switch by helping someone. It really does not take much to make a difference in someone’s life. The tiniest thing can help. It’s not about being able to say what you did. It really is about showing that person love and helping them. It isn’t about money, either. It’s about service. Think about how you can genuinely help someone just as a service. Think Chick-Fil-A customer service without a paycheck.

Thinking of yourself, how do you most often complete the sentence: “I am ___”? If it’s negatively skewed, you’ve got work to do. Try some of these tips or others; refill the blank with something different, something positive. If you consider yourself to be the greatest person on the planet, you’ve got work to do. Humility is a wonderful thing. One of my favorite quotes says we are either humble or about to be. Like the illustration above, shoot for somewhere in the middle.

In any event, try to fill in the blank in a more positive way. Then, watch what happens with your self-esteem.

#selfesteem #positivity #redefined #Jesus