It’s hard not to stop and admire beauty. And thanks to the ubiquitous mobile cameras, it only takes a minute to snap beautiful blooms like the ones below to savour at a later date. Flowers are flowers and we would be silly to compare them and say ‘This one more beautiful than that.’
Beautiful Blooms
Beauty, said my favourite poet, is in the eyes of the beholder. I begin to think of how we behold ourselves. Do we think of ourselves as beautiful? And I don’t just mean on the outside – but inside too. How much do we value ourselves? Do we think we’re worth cherishing? Do we think we worth our own time? How often we trample upon our own self-worth by selling ourselves short.
Too often we compare ourselves to others and feel that we’re not good enough. How often we fail to enjoy and savour being our own kind of beautiful.
Be Your Own Kind Of Beautiful
After a series of experiences and a lot of self-reflection, I’ve come to the conclusion that negative people should be treated like mosquitoes! You either live with them and get constantly bitten, you get rid of them (yes, there are ways!) or you use a protective mosquito net so they don’t get into your space. Since it’s not always possible to get rid of them (as much as I’d like to!), and I am certainly not going to get bitten, I use a ‘negativity net’. I live in my space and do all I can to make it beautiful.
This brings me to another parallel.
Beautiful street art colours many of the walls in Mumbai. This is an attempt to beautify the area — the creative and cooperative work of several artists. But it is not just beautification alone that they’re working towards. They are safeguarding the walls from rude messages being painted, flyers being stuck and the walls being used as public toilets!
Drawing a parallel between the walls and us, I see how we can make a choice about how to respond to people who misunderstand us (sometimes deliberately!), insult us and generally paint us in a poor light. We can either grumble, curse and lash out at them or we can focus on strengthening ourselves so that whatever they say has no effect on us.
I’ve learned that when negative people are getting me down, I should raise the level of my own positive energy. How do I do that?
1. By focusing on gratitude. Continually being thankful for all I have and all the love I enjoy.
2. By being creative. Focusing my energy on my writing and other creative things like cooking and knitting.
3. Doing what I love most. For me, that’s reading. So the fact that I’ve managed to read over 300 books in two years should tell you how I keep sane. 😉
When you encounter negative people — think of mosquitoes, think of beautiful walls and just be you!
Color your own space, create your own sunshine, make your own magic and be your own kind of beautiful!
Color your own space, create your own sunshine, make your own magic and be your own kind of beautiful!Click To TweetToday I invite you to focus on appreciating and cherishing the beautiful bloom that is YOU.
#FridayReflections
You are invited to join the Friday Reflections linkup every Friday to share a good cup of tea and your reflections.
Here’s how #FridayReflections works (updated this week):
- Every 1st and 3rd Friday (and a 5th Friday, if there’s one) you are invited to write a post based on the prompts provided. On the 2nd and 4th Friday join in with your reflections.
- Use the hashtag #FridayReflections. Please follow Friday Reflections on Twitter @FridayReflect and join our Facebook Group.
- Add your link to the linky below.
- Use the #FridayReflections badge to encourage other bloggers to join in too.
You can find today’s prompts here.
Visit and comment on the posts of other bloggers linked here.
You’ve hit the nail on the head . I’d better go out and get a good amount of HIT to kill all those mosquitoes that buzz around . Perhaps better still, raise the positivity with gratitude!
Today I look at my frost bit flower garden and think of how fleeting exterior beauty can be. For the next few months I will cultivate that which pleases me, despite a person who can be negative. I am less and less tolerant of this.
Great wisdom in this post. Looking at the little blessings definitely changes our persception of life and helps us move into a positive frame of mind.
I love the ‘negativity net.’ I usually draw a circle of protection around myself and smile on.. 🙂 Those flowers are beautiful and I love being able to look back at them in the freezing winter. I can almost feel the sun again.
300 BOOKS??!! You are officially my hero. And I love your positive attitude. Great tips. Am so glad I finally linked up!
Today I had a pleasure trip across beautiful thoughts which otherwise are islands, courtesy this post! I loved the way each thought led to another making it a free falling spring.
My take away from the post…let me take all the negativity of life as “mosquito”. All mosquitoes better be kept away or build a wall to protect self from its attack. Can I call this very mantra as the “vaccine” for negativity disease, Corinne? Lovely profound thought indeed!