Category: Daily Reflection

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

How often have you tried to fit in, be like someone else, or act like another? For the longest time, it seems like that’s all I really did. I had real idea who I was, what I liked, and was incredibly afraid to be myself because I thought if I was, no one would like me. The problem was that in being what everyone else thought I should be, I ended up not liking myself much at all. In fact, I ultimately loathed myself more than not all the times I played that chameleon and adapted to any of those I spent time with. It wasn’t until I stopped trying to be like everyone else did I truly find myself. And when I did, I learned I was actually a pretty neat guy, quite unique and extraordinary in my own way. Which is why I believe it’s so important now for me to always be myself, than be like anyone else, because I finally am learning to like myself just as I am.

I pray that I may let go of trying to be like anyone else in life and that I learn who I really am inside. Help me to be myself no matter what and help me to like what I find deep within.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“The older you get, the more you realize that the way you look is a reflection of how you treat yourself.” (Hope Davis)

I used to despise myself on so many levels and any mirror only reflected back upon me the darkness I was living in. It wasn’t so much in the clothes I wore or in my physique, even though they frequently did echo where my heart and soul was. It also wasn’t so much in the things I regularly said, mostly because I was a master manipulator with my words. It was actually through my day-to-day actions that I came to loathe almost every part of myself. The more I lived with hate, anger, and resentment and the more I did everything I could to keep myself numb through any number of addictions, the more my reflection truly showed just how poorly I was treating myself. Thankfully, as I got older it all caught up with me, and through the help of my Higher Power I found the willingness to do something about what I saw looking back at me everyday. I’m grateful to say I like myself a lot more these days and can truly appreciate now what I see reflecting in the mirror.

I pray I learn to treat myself with nothing but unconditional love, so that I may learn to fully embrace that which I see in the mirror everyday.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson

“My happiness grows in direct proportion to my acceptance, and in inverse proportion to my expectations.” (Michael J. Fox)

Anytime I’ve ever found myself feeling overly frustrated with some part of my life, the source of it always seems to come back to an expectation I’ve set on someone or something. Maybe that’s happened when another driver wasn’t driving like I thought they should, or when a friend wasn’t acting how I wanted them to, or when a supervisor wasn’t respecting me like I felt I deserved, or when a partner wasn’t treating me how I wanted to be, or when a cashier wasn’t moving as fast as I needed them to, or when a business wasn’t giving me the level of customer service I envisioned, or when my own health wasn’t performing up to the standard I desired. Regardless, anytime I’ve ever placed an expectation on anything in life, my frustration has only increased. But anytime I’ve strived for acceptance of the very same thing, the more my happiness has increased. Coming to acceptance isn’t easy, but I know my happiness definitely depends on it.

I pray I may become free of all expectations in life and instead find acceptance with everyone and everything, including myself.

Peace, love, light, and joy,

Andrew Arthur Dawson