“How Others See You Isn’t Important, How You See Yourself Means Everything”

You cannot control who will like you, who will vilify you, who will speak kindly of you, who will judge you, who will love you, who will treat you unfairly, who will support you, who will spread lies about you, or who will be your biggest fan. We literally cannot control how any other person is going to feel, think, or treat us. When we come to recognize that as an actual fact, we can turn our focus to the only thing in this life that we actually can control, and that is how we feel about ourselves.

“Be proud of who you are, and not ashamed of how someone else sees you.”

I learned that lesson many years ago after going through a series of very difficult events in my life. I had come through a very unhappy marriage, a difficult divorce, a rough time in my professional life, and strained relations with certain members of my family. I had spent years trying to please other people, wanting them to recognize the good in me. I had spent years trying to be smart enough, or pretty enough, or skinny enough, or nice enough, or successful enough, or good enough, and all those other ‘enoughs’ that people were expecting from me. Yet, as hard as I tried, there was always someone who would tell me that I wasn’t enough, and my view of myself would fall completely apart. I would feel horrible about myself. I would feel sad and discouraged and I would allow myself to believe that someone else’s view of me was, in fact, true, rather than looking in the mirror and knowing for myself who that girl was that was staring back at me.

"How others see you isn’t important, how you see yourself means everything"

“How others see you isn’t important, how you see yourself means everything”

By seeking other people’s approval of me I had literally given away my ability to control knowing who I was. I had given up all ability to control my own happiness by placing that power in the hands of anyone who wanted to form opinions about me. I felt helpless. Then one day a wise counselor helped me to see that as long as I cared about what other people thought of me I was never going to have true confidence in myself, because I literally could not control other people’s judgments about me, and the fact is that other people are never equipped to pass fair judgment on us because they are not God, and God is the only one equipped to pass fair judgments. The counselor helped me to realize that I needed to let go completely of caring or worrying about what anyone else thought about me and start focusing entirely on what I thought of myself. I had to first block out everyone else’s opinions of me and instead focus all my attention on being the girl I wanted God to see in me. God is the only person I needed to worry about pleasing, and pleasing Him is something I had total control over. Suddenly I no longer felt helpless.

My life changed drastically after that. I began to live my life focused on doing the best I could each day. I no longer needed to compete with anyone else because God isn’t going to judge me on a comparative basis to anyone else. God is going to judge me on whether I do my best to become more and more like Him; not on if I become what someone else thinks I should be. God is going to judge me on whether I pick myself up after making mistakes, learn from my mistakes, and move forward as a better person determined not to make that same mistake again; not on if I was a perfect person. God is going to judge me on my efforts; not the outcome of my efforts. God is going to judge me on making the most of my gifts and talents; not on a comparison with other people’s talents. God is going to judge me on how He feels about me; not on how other people think, talk, or feel about me. As I focused all my efforts on only pleasing God and letting go of what anyone else though, my entire life changed. The distractions and discouragements of others that had held me back previously went away. My confidence grew and my talents and abilities blossomed in ways I could never have imagined. My life is full of blessings beyond measure in every aspect, but most of all I have been blessed with the feeling of peace that comes from understanding that God’s opinion is the only opinion that I need to focus on.

There will always be those people in the world who take pleasure in telling you that you are not enough. Those people who would tell you that do so because they themselves don’t feel like enough, and their insecurity demands that they drag others down into a state of misery with them. The fact is that they simply cannot judge whether you are enough or not, because they are not God. And only you know where your own relationship with God stands – nobody else. Only you control improving that relationship. All it takes is being the best person you can be each day, growing and learning and improving along the way. The best part is that God doesn’t play favorites in who He will love, God doesn’t get fickle when it comes to being proud of you, God doesn’t decide the quota of good people is filled and therefore you can’t make it into the “good group”, God would never tell you that you are not enough – He knows that you are enough because you are his child and by birthright you have the ability to be everything if you just focus on being the very best that you can be.
~Amy

16 Comments

  • Mark Hester says:

    I truly love you and your family. You have made me a better me, and I like the better me.

  • Bradley says:

    “How others see you isn’t important, how you see yourself means everything”……I think that we all could use this advice starting at age 1….lol…Amy!! However it is very hard for many, including myself, to not worry about how we are perceived in this world. As we all want to be accepted and respected with our friends, peers, and family yet as we have all found out it will be long and far between. for that “good job”. So the best way to start off is by making those times shorter, so Amy, “Good Job” on writing your blogs that make a difference in my life and so many others. Have a magical week!!

  • Dr. Nanguneri says:

    This is a great article. Everyone needs a break and a “Balcony Person” in their lives to show them what lies inside of them that they can’t themselves see and fall victim to what “Basement People” comment and criticize.

    Shed the counsel of the “basement people” and listen to the “Balcony People” in your lives that are affirmative and not evaluative

    [Look up Balcony People by Joyce Landorf Heatherley (Oct 1989)]

    Look out and there is one special “Balcony Person” in your life and sometimes in your own backyard close to you.

    Good Luck now and congratulations Amy for coming through the fire in life.

  • Shayla says:

    I love reading your blog! It always inspires me ! Thank you! 🙂

  • Jashan says:

    A very interesting point you made there Amy. I believe I am and was one of those who took others opinion about me seriously. Through your article I realize how important it is to be true to yourself and believe in GOD. The idea is believing in yourself the rest the universe does for you! 🙂

    Thanks once again for sharing with us this story.

  • Fallon says:

    This design is wicked! You obviously know
    how to keep a reader entertained. Between your wit and your videos, I
    was almost moved to start my own blog (well, almost…HaHa!) Excellent job.
    I really loved what you had to say, and more than that, how you
    presented it. Too cool!

  • Nick says:

    Many thanks to you and your article.
    I feel peaceful after reading it and it is inspirational.
    “How Others See You Isn’t Important, How You See Yourself Means Everything”is a smart quote

  • Anonymous says:

    Its really nice one..i loved it

  • Anonymous says:

    So Peace giving and inspirational
    I loved it!!!

  • Marie says:

    Thank you for your wisdom

  • Marie says:

    Thanks for your wisdom

  • Ouma says:

    Like it

  • S.g says:

    Thanks for article but after read it I nothing

  • Berhan Tekletsion says:

    Excellent article.

  • Lexie Lorenzo says:

    Hi Amy! Thanks for this! Is it okay if I will repost this on our page? 🙂

  • Kelley says:

    Due to a lot of things, I’ve been wrestling with “How does God see me” vs “How do others see me” vs “How do I see myself.” An angry family member has falsely accused me of planning to do something wrong and aligned other family members. He is younger and has a lot going for him: position as the baby in the family, personality, power, etc. In comparison I have nothing. Yet when I tried defending myself or pointed out nice things I’ve done for others in the family I was told “You think you’re perfect. You’re self-righteous. You have no self-awareness.” Several weeks prior to this angry rant I was told “You have a good heart.”

    As a Christian I wonder if I even had any kind of positive testimony with my siblings. Apparently not. I questioned that maybe I really don’t see myself correctly. Am I really the self-righteous person she (my sister) accused me of being? And how does God see me? As a failure?

    I found your article in a moment of sadness…which I know will pass, with God’s Grace. Thank you for writing and posting it. I feel like God meant for me to find it and know that you, and others have gone through similar trials and come out on the other side, stronger in your faith and relationship with Him…and others.

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