How A Coat Can Change Your Attitude

I was blessed enough to travel to Ireland this summer.  It was a dream come true for me.  While I was there wandering through the shops, I came across winter coat that I just had to have.  It is a high collared wool jacket, with a houndstooth pattern and a side zipper.  It was not at all conducive to the weather that August day, so wearing this new treasure was not an option.  My suitcase was already bursting at the seams, so I had it shipped home to Canada where it arrived 2 weeks later.

Over the last few days, I have had the opportunity to wear this new-found winter staple.  I make sure that I am well put together from head to toe.  As I pull it on, my posture instantly improves, and I feel confident.  I am sure that everyone who sees me wearing this coat, senses that I am a capable, self-assured person.   My whole demeaner changes. I make eye contact and smile at everyone I meet.  I act as though I am a person who would wear this amazing coat in the fashion districts of major cities throughout the world.

The thing is, I am the same person in the coat that I am in my 20-plus year-old sleeping shirt.  I put on this coat (costume), and with it. I take on a belief in myself and my place in the world.   I communicate wordlessly, and expect that others have a different perception of who I am based on what I am presenting to the world.

One evening, as I was returning my coat to its place in the closet, I had the thought “Why am I hiding behind this costume?”  The answer came to me quickly; because deep at the core of who I am, there is a single question – am I enough?

It is a question I believe we all secretly hold.  What if I said to you that you were born enough, that I was born enough, that we don’t have to do anything to be more lovable or more deserving. We don’t have to dress a certain way, have a nice house, be a certain size, or anything else that society uses as a measuring stick.  We are enough just because we exist.  What if we didn’t have to cloak ourselves with other peoples’ expectations, but instead chose to wear joy, love, harmony, and acceptance of ourselves and others as confidently as we wear our new treasured possessions?

How often do we hide behind, or try to control, what we think other people perceive us to be?  We let our self-doubt in, and we compare darkest selves to the best coat or costume that others are presenting to the world. We can choose to move beyond negative group beliefs and influences.  We can choose to believe that we are all the same, and that we all have the same potential for greatness.

Miracles happen every day.  All that we need to create a miracle in our life, is a shift in our perception.  Be willing to move beyond past limitations, and into the freedom of the present.  Live for today.  Lovingly live your best life.  Relax into the flow of life and know that it will provide all that you need.  Trust in the process of life.  Wear your new coat knowing that it represents everything that you are on the inside.

Imagine that you are wearing a long coat of guilt, shame, fear, distrust, and blame.  See yourself taking the coat off and letting it fall to the floor.  Know that you are safe.  Mindfully slip your arms into your new coat which has been lovingly lined with confidence, self-love, freedom, and approval.  In this coat you think only loving thoughts about yourself, and soon they become habitual and manifest themselves in your life.  You are at peace and in alignment with your inner wisdom.  All self-imposed pressure is then dissolved.  You are enough. I am enough.  And so It is.

Copyright 2017, Victoria Johnson, www.VictoriaJohnson.org