Wonderful You Wednesday: The Power is Yours

Welcome to Wonderful You Wednesday at My Life as a Trimommy.  This is an ongoing series where I will have a post by myself or a guest that focuses on body image and self esteem.

Do you remember 8th grade?  I do, a little bit too clearly.  It was an awful year for me.  Of course, it probably was for everyone.  I seriously doubt anyone would classify their 13th year of life as their favorite.  I was very tall for my age, probably one of the tallest in my class, including boys.  I had a very intense crush on Denny Douglas, who was a good 6 inches shorter than me.  I'm pretty sure I made him a tape of The Jets singing "I've Gotta Crush on You"...and I'm pretty sure I gave it to him.  Needless to say, Denny and I just weren't destined to be despite my sincere attempts to woo him with bubblegum pop wrapped in a sheet of notebook paper covered with "I Love Denny," (although, in my defense, the love was a heart and my girlfriends all thought this was a fantastic idea.)

The thing I remember the most about 8th grade, though, was always thinking about what other people thought of me or how someone made me feel.

"She makes me so mad."
"He makes me feel happy."
"She thinks she's so much better than me."
"He makes me feel so sad."

Please tell me I wasn't the only one!!

Of course, perspective changes a lot as we mature, but I think some things stay the same unless we make an effort to change them.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent."  Eleanor Roosevelt

I saw this quote the other day, and it really spoke to me.  Good old Eleanor really hit the nail on the head with this one, and here's the thing.  We can let people make us feel a lot of things if we let them.  As for me, I choose to not give other people that power.  The power to love myself as God made me, the power to be happy regardless of my circumstances, the power to believe in myself, the power to let my light shine on those around me...that power is all mine.