They Think They Are What They Think You Think They Are

I became a teacher for many reasons, but the main driving reason for why I became a teacher was because I was a miserable student. School was not my safe spot. I preferred my friends in my neighborhood and talking with my older cousins. I struggled with math and I struggled to pay attention in class. I would rather run with my daydreams which for a long time was thought to be a hearing problem, so I was given a million hearing tests. I joked with my mother that all I remember from Elementary School was hearing tests and multiplication cards. I despised the way I felt and I often adapted in maybe not so healthy ways. I wanted to be an educator to maybe change some things and have an opportunity to work with those goofball kids who have all the potential in the world, but seem to limit themselves. These experiences have made me a fighter, but for longer than I care to admit it put a chip on my shoulder. I was constantly on the defense.

So the last couple of weeks I have been thinking about a quote. This quote honestly changed a lot in my brain. So here it is...

"I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am what I think you think I am." - Cooley

Students, no people, not just students often view themselves from a false lense. Our self-concept is a complicated web, but many of those dimensions are defined by how we perceive the world sees us. A kid who feels stupid might internalize and develop defenses that cause other problems, because he thinks the teacher does not believe in him. Might not be true. But it doesn't matter, because the perception of your thoughts and opinions has changed his behavior. Many times the voices in our head that tells us "we cannot" are the perceived thoughts of other people. Other people interfering and defining us. We take in what we are told. Parts of ourselves are natural, but most of what we are is learned.

This leads me to my next quote.

"If an egg is broken by outside forces, life ends. If broken by an inside force, life begins. Great things always begin from the inside." - Jim Kwik

Outside forces are powerful. Sometimes a toxic perception of ourselves can develop, because we feel society, our teachers, our parents, or others view us negatively. Or we might over embrace and overdo what is perceived to be good about us like being grade oriented and perfectionists who are not fond of risk. May or may not be true. But this does have the potential to cripple or injure someone's path for growth. Great things comes from an internal shift. A thought of self-responsibility to start making changes. To break what isn't working to create something new. To destroy the barrier so you can be free.

So we live in a mental world where our world is shaped by others, but the only way we can move forward and grow is through our own actions. Meaning we need to be stronger than our own darkest thoughts.

I have no answers just thoughts to share. We must be careful of how we react, because whether we intend it or not it can hinder someone else. More importantly though there are things you can do to grow out of it. All you need is you.

Everyone is capable of anything until someone puts limits on themselves. These limits were not naturally formed, because as kids we had no limits. These limits were learned.

So when people say they found themselves really what they mean is they rediscovered themselves. We are the awesome people we always were. We just got lost in the perceptions of ourselves.