How to Tap Into Your Natural Magnificence
We are each absolutely magnificent beings. Yes, that means you too. I don’t just mean magnificent in a theoretical sense. Even when you are having a bad hair day, the kids are out of control, your biggest client is unhappy with your best efforts, and your bank account is overdrawn – even then, you
are magnificent!
The key is to learn how to shift out of our learned tendency for self-judgment and negativity, so we can experience our natural magnificence any time we want to – or need to. When we do that, our resiliency and optimism is amplified. We become able to cope more readily with life’s twists and turns, and we can connect more easily and meaningfully with the people we care for the most.
How You See Yourself Affects How You Experience Life
Seeing yourself as magnificent is actually a choice. It may be hard to consider yourself as magnificent at first. Still, even if it feels inauthentic initially, remember, every new habit can feel awkward in the beginning. Try it, and stick with it.
I have a friend who always addresses me, “Hello, Beautiful.” I didn’t pay a lot of attention for a while. However, one day I was looking in the mirror with my usual unhappy self-judgment about my hair, and those new lines around my eyes, I decided to try her greeting for myself for a change. After all, my way had not made me feel better, and in fact, I was feeling worse about myself as a result. So, I started saying, “Hello, Beautiful,” to myself. There was no one to stop me except my own reflection. I was delighted that the person staring back at me in the mirror liked me better almost immediately, and she smiled.
Over time I realized I could choose to keep up the warm, complimentary greeting to my reflection. I have realized that how I choose to see myself affects the reality I create for myself. I smile more. I hold my head up. I walk with purpose. I speak with conviction. Ultimately, when I see myself as magnificent, people around me become that mirror reflection and see me that same way.
In my book The Curious Voyage: A Rule-Breaking Guidebook to Authenticity, I have included a step-by-step exercise to get you started on your own loving relationship with the person in your mirror, too. You Are Magnificent.
How Magnificent Would You Like To Be?
Many of us have lost touch, not only with our magnificence but who we really want to be. The two ideas are connected. If I don’t know who I want to
be, I cannot be my natural, magnificent self. Similarly, if I feel utterly un-magnificent, I will not be able to fully express who I am longing to be.
The reason we have lost touch with who we want to be is not difficult to identify. Just observe how often you do something for another person’s approval. For most of us, we learned that to get what we wanted, be safe, and belong, we needed to please our parents, teachers, and people in authority. We learned that lesson very well, and now we use it with our spouses and partners, our bosses and clients, and even our friends and children.
With all this focus on pleasing others to get their approval, our own wants and deepest desires – and yes, our magnificence – can get lost in the mix. If this sounds like it might be you, check in with yourself: do you frequently feel isolated, misunderstood, like you don’t matter as much as you want to, or mistrustful of your own abilities?
If any of these, sometimes subtle, influences are lurking just under the surface, then you probably would benefit from an opportunity to reconnect with your authentic heart’s desires. When you do, you will find your inner magnificence is right there, ready to bring your desires to life.
Again, I have created some heart-opening exercises in The Curious Voyage: A Rule-Breaking Guidebook to Authenticity to help you reconnect to your desires. There is nothing to risk and everything to gain from these exercises, even if you feel you are fully self-aware. I find we all can deepen our understanding of ourselves – even the most evolved among us. There is always more magnificence to express.
You Are Magnificent
If I were to tell you, “You are magnificent,” how would you respond?
Would you brush away the compliment with, “Hah! I wish!”?
Or would you be gracious enough to say, “Why, thank you!” but not really take it in?
Or are you able to receive compliments and really soak them in with, “Oh, thank you! I love that you see that in me! That makes me smile.”
Of course, there is the bold soul that can say, “Thank you. I know! Isn’t it great? It takes one to know one,” without being conceited. This person owns their magnificence like a comfortable pair of shoes. It just is who they are.
Recognizing and choosing how we receive compliments is an indicator of how self-aware we actually are. If you have difficulty receiving compliments, you are certainly not alone. So many of us were taught how awful it was to be conceited, so we try to be humble instead. Or we are just shy, and compliments put a spotlight on us, where we prefer to sit on the sidelines.
My mirror greeting exercise is a perfect way to learn how to receive compliments as a sort of delicious food. Soak in it. Savor it. When you take in the compliment, it can become yours if you want it to. You can begin to literally vibrate with the energy contained in the compliment. It is as if you are an instrument, harmonizing with your own acceptance of your beauty, talent, passion and purpose.
If you begin to see compliments in this way – like food for the soul and the world reflecting back to you the magnificence you are exuding – then you realize there is no conceit in receiving them. There is only gratitude for being seen in your natural magnificence.