April 27, 2011 – Day 27 – Find a quote that inspires you either positively or negatively and write about it.
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
This quote did not fall into my lap until I was thirty. Maybe I saw it once or twice before, though not really taking to heart what it meant.
You spend so much of childhood, and adolescence, and even college and/or early career, worrying what other people think of you. If you have a good head on your shoulders, you learn earlier than than many of us that nobody’s opinion of you really counts except your own. (Except maybe a manager at an annual review at work!)
Me? I was not that lucky. With generalized anxiety disorder, one of the ways it manifests is worrying about what others think of one’s every move, something that lends itself to being overly negative with one’s self. Yes, perhaps that would be considered a form of paranoia.
Only in the past few years have I started to ignore those negative opinions I encounter, both those of others and those of my own. It has become easier to turn off the switch that says “beware, toxic person ahead” or tell those toxic thoughts to go away.
I often wonder if this strength to focus on positive feelings both from others and from within developed while dealing with the multiple chronic physical conditions which came to light in my late twenties. When you must take care of yourself to feel as well as possible, you start realizing that positivity (and good mental health) is necessary to feel as well as possible.
That’s not to say that I am perfect these days, that negativity never makes its way into my mind. It just does not overwhelm me as often.
(Beyond that, I read an excellent biography of Eleanor Roosevelt a few years back that showed how she dealt with depression. Even this well-respected woman, who could have easily headed to the White House in her own right had she been born two or three generations later, experienced depression. This quote makes me think that she struggled with negativity in her own life.)
So true. Especially since I have a tendency to be my own “toxic personality.” I’m vigilant about buying myself organic berries but got forbid I decide I need a nap or say no to a new project.