(Credit: https://images.app.goo.gl/WkuB2jX9GMPytAvYA)

“What matters most is how you see yourself”

This popular image, of the kitten looking confidently into the mirror and seeing a lion is one I had in my room as a child.  I love cats, so I loved this message.  It was a reminder to myself to believe in myself.  Trouble was, the message didn’t quite “stick”.  I think every time I saw it, instead my little kitten voice said “I wish I COULD pretend I was a lion, but I’m just not strong enough to imagine that”.

Twenty years later, finally finding my inner ‘lion’ again, I find that this positive message really, really misses its potential.  For people struggling to find confidence, this imagery (though appearing to be empowering) falls short.

This image, subconsciously, could be interpreted that we are doing “make believe”.   After all, in this image, we ARE the meek, defenseless kitten.  We are only “imagining” ourselves a lion.  The world still sees us as we are, a powerless kitten, and this image is trying to inspire us to somehow, deny reality, and imagine that we are more powerful than we are.

But, what if this was backwards? 

What if we flipped it around?

Realize that the problem with confidence is that we are actually the lion, not the kitten.  

We –always–  have been the lion.

(Credit: https://images.app.goo.gl/JQFrEw2E1ymBhTXs7)

We ARE the lion, but when we have low self-esteem we *see ourselves as* the kitten after a lifetime of limiting beliefs.

We are ALL that powerful. Trouble is, we walk around looking in “mirrors” and see ourselves as a meek, incapable kitten.  We talk down to ourselves and expect ourselves to fail and be judged. And how we see ourselves seeps into the energy that we project to others.  We project this kitten into our world and believe that our limitations are the reality – rather than realizing our limitations are only our reality BECAUSE we believe them.

How would your life be different if you walked around knowing that you are a lion? That it is ONLY your false belief that you are a kitten that is holding you back from anything you want to work towards?  If you realized that the way you see yourself, the way you regard yourself, is simply a skewed and filtered version of the true reality?

You are more capable than you ever thought possible. You are more amazing than you ever thought possible.  Right now, already.  It is only your beliefs and your rules that hold you back, not reality.  That possibility, that potential, is there. Just waiting.  Waiting for you to allow yourself to know that you are incredible.  How differently would your life start to *reflect* this inner confidence?

Start venturing outside of your ‘kitten’ comfort zone. Try something new that maybe scares you a little.  And when you find out you were perfectly capable of doing this thing you never thought you’d do, you’ll realize you’ve been a lion all along.