Just labels...

A few years back, I was once told that my mind was my greatest asset - but also my worst enemy. How true was that statement! While having a shower this morning (and it would seem that I do a lot of thinking at that time of day), I found myself thinking about my new status as someone receiving a pension. Then I got to thinking - am I a pensioner or not? 

My first thoughts were, 'I'm not 65, nor receiving Old-Age Pension, so therefore I'm not technically a pensioner'. Then I could hear my brother saying... 'You're receiving Canada Pension and your Teachers' Pension - therefore, you are a pensioner!'

These conflicting thoughts kept buzzing in my mind and then I remembered something else that was once said to me - these are all just labels - don't be defined by labels. 

Think of all the times we label ourselves. At various times, I have assigned labels to myself such as: stupid, inadequate, unkind, thoughtless, overweight, as well as many others. I know that most of these words describe isolated incidences, but when we continue to use them, we begin to transition them to describing our very selves. 

Consider now what our Inner Being (call it Source, your Soul, God, Energy of the Universe, All That Is - these, themselves, are all just labels, too) thinks about us, from the aspect of unconditional love..... we would know ourselves as worthy, lovable, kind, thoughtful, considerate, and vibrant. 

We have a choice when we find ourselves assigning labels - to ourselves, to others, or others labeling us. We can choose to focus on the negative labels, which generates negative feelings; or we can focus upon the positive, which will generate feelings of self-worth, self-love (in the best sense of the term), and a feeling of general well-being. 

After all, success is not defined by labels, nor by the amount of money in the bank, nor by our belongings. In my opinion, success is defined by the amount of joy we have in our lives. And we can choose thoughts that lean towards joy at any time. 

Today, I'm going to deliberately look for things that make me feel good when I see them, and listen for things that make me feel good when I hear them. This will bring me nearer to joy - which is our natural state - and from that aspect, there will be no need for labels.