We are each born pure souls, reflections of the Creator's handiwork, with special abilities and talents. As we grow, we are constantly and continually subjected to someone else's values -- or lack of them. Since we are defenseless children, we take the brunt of the frustration, anger, hostility and sometimes envy of the adults in our lives. Since the words hurled at us come from the adults in our lives, and since most of us have no other frame of reference, we accept this emotional and psychological cruelty as fact. We come to truly believe that we are useless, lazy, ugly, fat, skinny, stupid and all the other horrendous words that tear at our hearts.
As we grow, this image that has been created by others haunts us, and far too often forms the framework of our beliefs about ourselves. We waste so much of our precious life-force, and our limited time on this planet, trying to live up to someone else's expectations, fulfill someone else's dreams, or trying to live down someone else's hateful opinion of us, that the essence of our God-given spirit and beauty becomes damaged, erodes away, and is often lost.
Some words and phrases that are dead give aways for this type of demoralizing thinking are:
I can't They won't "let" me Don't blame me It's not my fault I'm not smart enough It's no use