Tag Archives: believe in yourself

These Masks

April 1, 2022 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

Masks of Life

Masks are used to hide a true identity. What does yours hide? — Masks are used to hide a real identity. What does yours hide?

It doesn’t matter who you are, where you live, or how much you have. You have spent a significant part of your life creating and wearing masks to hide your true identity. Authentic masks have become convenient in protecting our true identity in social situations. They bring us power, acceptance, or even can allow us to survive. Unfortunately, once used, they become pretty permanent.

These masks come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes and, in many cases, serve you quite well. They help to project the image that you want. But still, inside of us, there is a real person who is slowly suffocated by the masks we have chosen to wear.

Why I Built Masks

Hiding my true self, was for protection. It became almost permanent. — Hiding my true self was for protection. It became almost permanent.

As early as I can remember, there are many memories of support, recognition of who I was, and an appreciation for what I brought to the world. Then it started to change; other people did not seem to accept me as my loved ones did.

It is one of nature’s oldest forms of protection, camouflage. We feel safe by disguising the attributes that we take criticism for, causing us to experience pain. I think we feel protected, but it is false protection at a considerable price.

Although I was still the friendly, caring kid I was, I started to put on a mask that would help me get through the rough seas of acceptance that childhood makes you travel. It worked! I could hide and be whatever was more acceptable, funnier, meaner, less accepting of others—even narrow-minded and worse, unkind, insensitive, and even cruel.

Careful It May Get Stuck

The masks I constructed to get through the pains of growing up were helpful. It would be

Careful, they may become hard to get rid off. — Careful, they may become hard to get rid of.

insane to claim anything else. However, there is a problem we never think of at first. The masks we build become less of a cover and more of a permanent fixture. I began to forget who I was.

Since I wore the mask I wore, that became the dominant feature of my personality. I assume that actors sometimes have difficulty separating themselves from their characters. My life slowly yet inevitably became a permanent production of the mask that now was seemingly stuck in my existence.

The Real Tragedy

Don't Forget Who You Are. — Don’t Forget Who You Are.

After a while, we have forgotten all about who we were in the past and the essence that we were born with that made us great in the first place. Sometimes events have forced us to wear the mask for protection, and the events which cause this frighten us so much that we feel we need them forever.

Then as life passes and we realize that something isn’t right, we see that the mask we are wearing has made it almost impossible to remember anything about who we are. We don’t think we could recognize ourselves, even if we saw our true selves. That loss of identity is the real tragedy of the mask.

Losing your Mask

Like anything built sturdily and over time, you are getting rid of your mask is not something you can do in a day, a week, or sometimes even a year. Yet it is not complicated, and anyone can do it.

The trick to getting rid of your mask is remembering who you are and learning to accept it and love that person. The negative voices that fill your head with gibberish need to be expelled. All past bad experiences need to be forgiven, and you need to forgive yourself. Pay attention to the positive thoughts and feelings that surround being yourself.

The biggest fear of someone who wears a mask is that someone else will see through it and reject or be horrified by what they see. That can’t be the case because we are born with a unique person inside that is the essence of greatness. If someone sees something other than that, they are looking in a mirror, understanding their problems, not yours.

“We all wear masks, and the time comes when we cannot remove them without removing some of our own skin.” – André Berthiaume

“Nothing is more real than the masks we make to show each other who we are.” – Christopher Barzak

“Like icebergs, people normally expose only a small part of themselves, and generally just the part they wish to show.” – Nikki

“People seldom change. Only their masks do. It is only our perception of them and the perception they have of themselves that actually change.” – Shannon L. Alder

Gotta Believe in You

October 15, 2021 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

Have you noticed that the beliefs you cling to and carry around inside determine what your experience in life is going to be?

Over the past ten years, I started to look at my core beliefs and found that my programming had left me with a raft of limiting beliefs that determined just what the outcomes of many of my experiences were going to be.

I have been carrying around many things that are silly, self-defeating, demeaning, and just plain wrong. Under these conditions, I determined to see if I couldn’t change them a bit because, as I saw it until they were different, nothing was going to change.

I never looked at the core beliefs I carried around about myself until the last few years, and I have been astonished about what I have found. Under these conditions, I determined to see if I couldn’t change them a bit because, as I saw it until they were different, nothing in my life was going to change for the better. So I set out to change them.

This move is not a thought or a discussion about religion or a view of God, but rather the view we have of ourselves because of what was taught through our interactions in the world. These beliefs were learned in most cases a long time ago, and they

It is good to remember that our parents, grandparents, and teachers most often wanted the best for us, but in trying to keep people safe, they imparted beliefs that were just wrong. Carry with them the fear and life experience of every adult we accept information from in our lives. The great news is that once you recognize a belief, you will have the ability to change it and what you believe is the first key to finding your power.

To accomplish all that we dream about in life, you first need to develop a belief inside of you that not only can we do it, but that we deserve to have the benefits of whatever good thing we are shooting for. The first step for anyone is to look inside themselves honestly and see what beliefs you hold onto. Remember that talking a good game is not going to change the beliefs that

you have built about yourself and the world.

When you look at your life path, what is the definition of success you have in your mind? Whatever it is, I will bet that it is not that different from what you learned from examples and lessons when you were very young. Most people define success as the accumulation of money or respect for others. You are born, go to school, go to college, get a job, work for 30-35 years, retire, and then run out the clock until you die. That was the American Dream that I was taught. The funny thing was that in pursuing that dream, I was not particularly happy. Invariably there were experiences where I had the thought, “This is it?” The life I was experiencing was safe, but it was not very challenging or exciting.

Choosing a different path based on newer beliefs can be a scary thing, but look into your heart and see what is in there. Where do you want to go? What is it that makes you happy? Where is your passion?

It all begins with your beliefs, and you had better believe that your experience in life will go no further and bring you nothing that you don’t think you deserve. The best part is that you can change your beliefs at any point, and nothing is more powerful than changing a limiting belief to one that is more positive.

Believe in Yourself quotes:

“If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint, then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.”
– Vincent Van Gogh

“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” – African Proverb

“Aerodynamically, the bumblebee shouldn’t be able to fly, but the bumblebee doesn’t know that so it goes on flying anyway.” – Mary Kay Ash

“Believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place. Have faith in your own abilities, work hard, and there is nothing you cannot accomplish.”– Brad Henry

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”– Anaïs Nin

Attraction

October 14, 2021 Jonathan Hilton Leave a comment

Your Thoughts are Dictating What you are attracting in your life.

One of the more popular Universal Laws is the Law of Attraction. Due to the movie The Secret, this Law has become recognized as an almost magical force that will bring all of your wildest dreams into reality if you do it right. But I don’t think it works quite like that. There is nothing natural or straightforward about this because we are human beings and have many flaws.

You don’t get what you wish for in life; you get what you believe you deserve. At least that is my experience. Like attracts like so what is happening underneath the surface of your life, in your heart and mind, where nobody else but you can see is the most significant force regarding what types of experiences you have in life. To me, the Law of Attraction is no different than any other goal-setting program. Let go of the mystical, unbelievable parts of this. Believe that you can achieve anything through action.

Knowing what you want

To get to a destination or accomplish something, you have to have an end goal in mind. If, right now, you had no ties, no limitations, what would you do? Where would you go? What things would you accomplish? In theory, it is easy to answer, but when we face the reality of doing anything we want, often we have no idea what would make us happy. This is because we have been brainwashed about what we should do. We spend little time thinking about what we want to do.

Understanding what will make you happy is the first step in any goal setting. Then ask for it. We pray by creating a goal around this thing we want and start to imagine what it will be like. Building robust, concrete plans to accomplish always gets the process of accomplishment in motion. There is no other way to do it. Set your destination and start the journey. Knowing what you want out of life is vital to the Law of attraction. Remember that knowing what you want is not magically making it appear; it is the first step.

Believe You Deserve Success

Believing that you can do something is more comfortable than thinking that you deserve to do something. That statement is sad but true. Our beliefs about our abilities and characteristics all determine how many of our goals we can accomplish. Your ideas about yourself develop throughout your life. Opinions and thoughts of parents, relatives, peers, teachers, Culture, and the media. Many of our beliefs are limiting and hold us back, yet we cling to them still. Changing that mindset is the most significant step to accomplishment a person can have.

The steps that you need to take to reach your goals will require you to do things, try things, fail at something, learn from things and do it all over again to find the path to reach whatever goal you set for yourself. Developing positive beliefs about yourself is vital to becoming the best you can be. Understand that if you follow the process out, the result will be a joy. There is a joy in all journeys, a feeling of learning and mastering the unknown. Changing limiting beliefs takes a little work, but all that you want to accomplish is on the other side of that process.

You Deserve It

In the Law of Attraction, you have to receive whatever it is that you want. That means to me that you know you deserve and are worthy of whatever goal you have set. This action sounds simple, but people often think good things are for others and not for them. Either because of limiting beliefs or because of a lack of confidence in themselves. I believe that everybody deserves to achieve goals.

The action steps you take toward a goal prove that you are deserving of any goal you set out to achieve. The process is not simple or easy; there are many learning moments along the way. I have often felt that it is the journey that has more value than the destination. The challenges you overcame, the setbacks you didn’t let stop you, and the growth that had to occur are all part of the journey. Paying this price does not have to be painful; it can be enjoyable. It is a matter of your perspective and how you view it. Knowing that you deserve good things in life, we all do.

Finally

When you hear about the Law of Attraction in the future, try not to think of mystical, metaphysical forces, but rather a simple law that supports goal setting and achieving. To me, that is what it means. When you set a clear goal, believe in yourself, and consistently accomplish it, you can achieve it. All people can move their lives in whatever direction they choose towards desperation and fear or love and accomplishment. It is totally up to you how your own story unfolds, but know that the process is always there for you to use.

Set a goal, get excited about it, visualize its success, then start taking steps to get yourself moving in that direction. Believe in yourself and your ability to accomplish whatever it is and have the self-worth to accept the final result, and there you have it.

“Ask for what you want and be prepared to get it.”- Maya Angelou

“What you think you create. What you feel you attract. What you imagine you become.”-Anonymous

“The universe changes; our life is what our thoughts make it.”-Marcus Aurelius

Jonathan Hilton Mind Connections