Good Self, Bad Self, True Self

Hi, and welcome to your Daily Mindfulness. Today, I'm going to be talking about our self image. So as we go about daily life, we are constantly constructing mental images of ourselves in the mind. We may think that we're amazing, or we may think that we're no good. We may think that we're wonderful or unworthy.

We may think we are a good self or a bad self, or maybe somewhere in between. But no matter what idea we may have of ourselves, it's simply a concept in the mind, a story. It's not an objective or ultimate truth. Now it's quite common to have quite a lot of mental dialogue around our self image. We think about whether we're good enough, whether we're making an impression, whether we're measuring up.

We may try to build up our self image in our mind, or try to prop up our confidence, you know. Or the inner critic might've come in and starts to tear up our self image. And, you know, we end up feeling horrible. It ruins our confidence. We also spend a lot of time comparing ourselves to other people.

Oh, they're prettier than me. I wish I was more like that. Or maybe we feel a bit inferior, or we may feel superior. Oh, I'm better at this thing. I'm more knowledgeable than this person.

So we feel a bit superior there. And so we keep shifting and kind of crafting this conceptual image of who we are based on comparison and stories we tell ourselves. But all of our concepts about ourselves are just that, they're mental concepts. They're stories in the mind. And really when it comes down to it, one story is not that much different than the other story.

I mean, you might think, you know, if someone thinks that they're really wonderful, they have this big ego. But actually it's the same ego, either way. One self-concept thinks it's wonderful. The other self-concept thinks it's horrible. Both are still just concepts, stories about the self.

So what mindfulness teaches us is to let go of these mental storylines and discover who we are beyond or beneath the stories. This direct way of knowing who we are really grows within us a stable, steady sense of confidence and greater freedom and peace of mind. So the invitation for today is to see if you can be aware of when the mind is creating all these self-concepts. And whenever you catch it, just mentally noting to yourself, just thinking, just to remind yourself that these are just thoughts. They're not your real self.

And then bring your focus back to the present moment, perhaps with one slow mindful breath. In this way, we rise above good self or bad self and find out true self by being awake in the present moment. As always, thank you for your practice and your presence here with us. And now let's settle in for today's meditation.