As we welcome in the beautiful month of July, I would like to invite you to participate in a journey that I will be doing for personal growth.

Lately I have become aware that sometimes unknowingly, I have been comparing myself to others (and as some of you know my story, I have done this all of my life); comparing their level of success to mine; comparing their business abilities to mine and comparing who each of us is as true compassionate human beings.  When constantly comparing myself to others, I was robbing ‘me’ of my true light, gifts and personal successes.

In the last few months these feelings have hit me full on and, I will admit I was struggling.  Last evening, I came to the realization after watching an interview I was part of that I was unable to smile when the interviewer acknowledged my success.  That inability to smile and accept the truth has to do with ego. 

As a child, I was told that if I talked about my accomplishments, I was bragging and that is a horrible thing to do.  It was said in such a way that I believed I would go to Hell if I talked about my achievements.  So, I learned to remain quiet.  I won countless awards for sports, was captain of volleyball, basketball and baseball teams.  I won trophies and ribbons for cycling, but quietly put all of the awards into a drawer and left them there to stand in silence, rarely to see the light of day.  The comments of, “EGO is bad,” as a child obviously affected me greatly.  A few years ago, I actually threw the awards and trophies away.  I thought they didn’t matter.

Throughout my journey in this life, I have been uncomfortable receiving compliments about my looks, my talents, and gifts.  I stopped myself from smiling from my soul when I won the International Readers’ Favorite Award for my book, A Century of Secrets, or achieving my college diploma and two coaching certifications and NLP certificate.

This morning, I spoke with a dear friend, who is a gifted practitioner and a woman who is truly focused on helping people heal from their pain.  She boldly mentioned that I must stop comparing myself with others and stand true and strong in my own path, and own who I am as a compassionate, kind and intuitive woman.  This is awesome insight and a light sparked in my heart and soul at these words.

Why do we compare ourselves constantly to others?  Why do we want the successes that others have achieved?  Are those successes and achievements right for us, when they are meant for the other person?  No, they are not. 

So, join me on this journey for the month of July and really take a look at yourself and how you view yourself versus others.  Are we living in someone else’s path and successes, or do you stand in your own truth or who you really are?

Let your inner light shine through!

Teresa

Defining Your Circle of Excellence,