We draw strength, reassurance and confidence from the individuals around us. Unfortunately the opposite is also true. If we lack insight or vision, the company we keep can have an adverse effect on our wellbeing.
It starts at a psychological level. In time, however, what we think and how we interpret that which we see and hear will also have a physical impact. The people around us can make us sick.
What that calls for is a regular and honest assessment of where we are. And it’s important to be in the moment…living in the day…making the most of what we have while we have it.
It also calls for the need to appreciate and understand where we have been…who we have been. Only then can we fully understand the need to look to where we want to be.
It’s only by looking around ourselves that we can reach a stage where we can fully appreciate where we are. That takes effort and there is always the risk that we will tend toward hyper-self criticism. There is a need to work on the relationship we have with ourselves to ensure that we avoid the tendency to become our own worst enemy. It’s imperative that we continue to be kind to ourselves.
Often working against that is the influence and expectations of those who occupy the mental and physical space immediately surrounding us.
We do not always get to choose the company we keep. There are situations from which there is no immediate escape.
Capitulation is not the answer. To surrender is to admit defeat.
Outright warfare in not the answer either.
It’s not easy to find the sweet spot between the two extremes but a good place to start is to properly consider the value we place on ourselves.
Self-worth is also about being true to the person we are today…not the person we were yesterday or the person we aspire to be tomorrow.
The here and now is where we are.
Gary Bentley Counselling 