Who We Really Are

We never seem to see ourselves as others see us. I have a wonderful friend. I think she is one of the bravest people I know. I have watched her go through some incredible things in her life that would just devastate others....and she has survived it all. In my mind she is incredible.

In her mind though she can never measure up. She feels that she is never enough and needs to be reassured that she is. What she sees when she looks at herself and what I see are two different people. Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle, it's always hard to know for sure.

It left me wondering however. I feel pretty comfortable with who I am at this stage in life. I am pretty settled. I have done a lot of the inner work and continue to do so. I have strengths and weaknesses and am o.k. with it. I do know however that I have friends who think I am quite a bit better than I think I am, who think I am smarter or wiser. When they mention it I am always surprised..."where did they come up with that?" I think.

Who's right and who's wrong. Perhaps both sides are in some ways or perhaps we believe the little stories we tell ourselves over and over and deny our true worth.

I don't want to go the other way and falsely build myself up but I wonder how much we hold ourselves back?