Hello Readers,
Continually trying to impress or please others and you will fail the person who is most important, ‘you’. The desire to impress others is one of the most painful forms of mental imprisonment. There is nothing more debilitating than wondering whether or not you are saying or doing something that is good enough and impressive enough to get other people’s approval. Its normal to want to look good and be accepted by others and lots of people try very hard to appear better and more successful than they really are. It’s often irrelevant as to who they impress, they just want to be accepted. Through looking towards other people and trying to copy their lifestyle, they are not being true to themselves. If their actions impress others, that’s fine because it makes them feel good, and more importantly, superior to others, but if they don’t get the reaction they are looking for, they could end up being all over the place because they have lost control and their self-esteem falls even lower than before.
One example I remember clearly was in the days before supermarket plastic bags were banned. I noticed certain people shopping in bargain basement stores and doing their food shopping in the cheaper outlets, but using posh labelled bags to put all their groceries in so as to be seen as having the money to be able to live a classier lifestyle. They did this to not only impress others in-case they were seen, but also to fool themselves about the true reality of their circumstances and about who they really are. People often lie about how much money they really have, how many properties they own or who they socialise with and name dropping during conversations in an attempt to look and sound important.
To avoid feeling inferior and not good enough in the eyes of others, some people will go to extremes in order to be part of a gang, a social circle where everyone works very hard at keeping up with others, often getting into debt in the process because these activities are both expensive and thoroughly exhausting. But the danger is that when they do not succeed in creating the desired impression, whole thing can develop into a vicious circle and then before long they will do something more drastic and dramatic to obtain the attention they are seeking. It’s a way of distracting themselves from the real issues that are going on behind the scenes that are causing them to feel so unhappy with their lives, the ones they do not readily want to face and deal with.
When you like yourself and feel comfortable in your own skin, you have no need to impress other people nor feel that you have to fit into their lifestyle. Never pretend to be what you are not, instead, just be yourself. If people love you, they will love you ‘warts and all’. If you truly love who you are, other people’s opinions won’t even matter. I think everyone is more confident when they are just being themselves and not trying to impress others. Realise that you are the most important person in your life. Believe in yourself and stop trying to convince others. Do what you love and love what you do.
Until Next Week,
Love and Light,
Linda and The Lulas xxx
