Self Esteem

I think I might be a little goofy from all the spray paint fumes today....but I was thinking. I tend to do that while I paint....think...that is. My brain uses that time to mull over various topics until I am ready to share them with someone....hopefully with enough mulling, they will make sense. So I was thinking about a conversation Heather and I had while standing around after class the other morning. ((side note)) We do that a lot. We'll stand outside our exercise class and chat and watch the next class go in for their morning dose of torture {love ya Natalie!}. Sometimes we are even there when that class comes out!! Talk about embarrassing. We watch the old men wander into the cafe for their morning coffee club, too. We've endured the comments on our sedentary state...and kept on gabbing. ((back to my ramblings....)) So on one such morning we were talking about the way we (as women) see ourselves. I see my friends (I'm including my sisters in this column today, because they are my closest friends!) as fabulous, brave, stunning women. Yet listening to them talk....they see themselves as less than all that. I'm sure I am guilty of the same thing. I have a friend who is a FABULOUS Mom and a great listener. I have a friend who never backs down from any challenge in her life....you won't catch her hiding in a food lined cave. And another of my peeps is a wonderful decorator with a creative soul and a runners body. And still these women see themselves as less than fabulous!! Who knows why we discount ourselves and the talents and attributes we bring into every situation. Who knows why we judge ourselves so harshly, instead of seeing ourselves as our friends see us. What would happen in our lives if we took a step back and looked at ourselves as our friends do, as our kids do, as our Moms do, as our spouses do? Who would we see? Would we see the petty little flaws that seem huge and unending to us....or would we see the the beauty and compassion, the unending potential and the near perfection? Would we be nicer to ourselves....more forgiving? For the rest of the day....and tomorrow if I can swing it....I am going to try to see myself as my friends see me. I will try to see myself through the eyes of my kids. I will try to see the potential my Mom swore she saw. I will try to see that person that Jim sees when he looks at me. Maybe I'll learn to not be so hard on myself....we could all use a little of that. Maybe it will motivate me to be a nicer person in general.....maybe.