Just thinking...

The idea of self image is interesting to me. How do I construct my self image? This isn't a topic I know much about but I'm curious. Why do I think I am this or that?

I'm sure my abilities, or lack-there-of, factor into my self image. I'm not good at sports, so I don't see myself wearing warm-up suits and being all competitive...that kind of thing. Another factor may be that I was raised in an organized religion where I constructed lots of ideas from primary lessons. There is also heredity. I don't mean inherited traits, I'd put that under the topic of abilities, I mean the stories of the people I'm connected to. I've been told stories of my Mormon pioneer heritage...and my heritage of witches. Hmm...

How I spend my time becomes part of myself image. I paint, I'm a mother, I go to church, I play with my friends, etc. and each of those things of those becomes part of my self image. ...artist, nurturer, spiritual and likable(by most people). I can explore and sort out of of those topics in my head and lots more like birth order and my height, but I'm thinking that there is one factor that plays the biggest part in building my self image. It is my interaction with those who are closest to me. For me that means immediate family and close friends.
Realtionality (a new word I learned from Dan) is our interaction with others. That interaction takes place for most of us in our homes. How we learn and act is directly related to those individuals. So my self image if greatly affected by the people closest to me.
So three things...it's really important who I choose to me close to me. I'm lucky to have good people all around me. I choose that. Also, it's really, really important to be nice to people. I affect the self image of those closest to me. The way I treat the people around me helps defines their self image. Ya? And...if I have gratitude for my life then I see myself as happy and therefore have a pleasant image of myself.