She Was In There The Whole Time!

What happens when the person you see in the mirror doesn’t reflect the woman you are inside?

Self-image can be a major cause of struggle for women when, who they see on the outside, conflicts with who they are on the inside.

I always knew I have a gift, a gift to help people see things differently, bringing forward what was previously concealed.  Yet I struggled to give this gift to myself.

I used to ask myself, “how is it possible for me to empower others so effortlessly and yet I am unable to empower myself?”

Growing up with questions about what had been done TO me created a strong belief that there were many things I would never be able to do, be or have in my life.  This left me with very little motivation to attempt anything in my life that could be a cause for greatness!

My belief about what I believed was done TO me was buried so deeply that it lay concealed in ways that would often make itself known in disempowering ways.  My whole life felt like everything I wanted was not possible, causing so much struggle that I only allowed people to see who I wanted them to see instead of the real me.

Somewhere deep inside my mind, I felt there was another me who was waiting to emerge and she looked nothing like the woman I would see in the mirror.  The woman in the mirror reflected the person others told me I would one day become.

I was told I had no value, and the woman in the mirror reflected that belief.

I was told I was from the wrong kind of family, and the woman in the mirror reflected that belief.

I was told my value lied in the pleasures that my body could bring to another, and the woman in the mirror reflected that belief.

The choices of others made sure I experienced a lack of security and low self-worth, and the woman in the mirror reflected that belief.

One day, I heard someone say, “you are more than you believe, you are here for a reason.  You are fragmented but you can make yourself whole and teach others to do the same.”

I would ask myself, “How can this be true? I feel so broken, how is it possible that I can truly be whole?”  Therefore, I continued to struggle, because struggle felt familiar, it was known to me and I could take comfort in my habit to struggle.

But those words kept coming back to me, “you are more than you believe, you are here for a reason.  You are fragmented but you can make yourself whole and teach others to do the same.” These words became a new struggle; the struggle to step out of the old belief to make room for this new belief.

As I hesitantly accepted the journey on my path to greatness, I realized that I can take something fragmented and make it whole again by learning that every struggle and heartbreak is an opportunity for growth and acceptance.

How often do we allow the person in the mirror to be a confirmation of our struggles and heartbreak instead of embracing the woman who is working desperately to emerge and be seen?

What beliefs need to be reevaluated or eliminated for her to emerge like the beautiful butterfly that emerges from its cocoon?

I lovingly ask you, “if the woman you see in the mirror is in conflict with the “inner you” what will it take to allow her to emerge and show the world that she was in there the whole time!
 
Nancy Mueller ~ Mastering Your Beliefs Mentor

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