We have heard it all before. What defines you is what’s on the inside. Strip back the layers. Remove the barriers that we hide behind. The clothing labels we feel determines our identity.
Visualize yourself in a large room. Begin to remove an article of clothing. As you remove each layer of clothing, take a step forward. Once completely naked turn sideways and visualize yourself in front of a large mirror. What do you see?
What you should be seeing is the real you. How do you look? You see a naked self. Now look deeper. If what you see feels ugly, visualize an oyster shell, crusty and imperfect. Open the shell and push the fleshy meat aside and observe a shiny pearl. A treasure buried deep inside, protected by the hardened shell.
Keep looking, what do you see? This is the real you. Nothing to hide behind, our naked body only the vessel that carries the treasure of our mind and soul.
What is your posture as you stand naked in front of the mirror? Are you hunched over? Hands covering areas of your body you don’t like exposing? Are you afraid of what you see? Look beyond those things. It’s what is on the inside that defines you?
Visualize the room again, only this time the room is full of people. Lined up row after row, naked and exposed. Who do you feel? The rank and file are now stripped of their superficial hierarchy. Are you afraid?
My original immediate honest answer would have been yes. I would have looked around the room to access everyone else. I’d make determinations based upon everyone’s nakedness and provide a comparison. I would have been naked and afraid.
But that was the old me. The new me works on what is inside. I read and write daily. My diet has improved and I exercise religiously. Not only my body but my mind.
I’m keeping a journal of each day’s incremental improvements. Each day I strive for a one percent improvement. One percent stronger, one percent more confident, one percent happier. It’s these daily micro improvements that cumulatively improved my inner self.
And it’s these internal improvements that transfer outward. Not only to my physical outer self but to those around me. I radiate outward positivity, empathy, and compassion. I’ve nothing to fear.
With each passing day, I improve. My thoughts remain positive. I’m focused and confident. As I stand nakedly before you, I’m unafraid.
