Somewhere at some point in your life, someone made you feel second-rate. They tried to make you feel like you weren’t one of the cool or special people.
Or they tried to make you feel like you were ugly or dumb or unfashionable or uncool or ungodly or lazy or impractical or a drag or burden.
You have felt second-rate ever since.
And it is so painful.
If you are like a lot of people, when you feel second-rate, you try to stuff the feeling down through food and chemical or other addictions Or maybe you try to stuff it down through working too hard, through perfectionism, or through rage, anxiety, or other coping mechanisms.
The idea that you are second-rate is the most false idea that ever was. You have always been first-rate.
You belong.
And you are beautiful.
You are exquisite.
And you are a gift to the world.
You have a beautiful light inside you, and when you let it shine, you change the world for the better.
Love is the path we can follow to remember our permanent membership in the First-Rate Club. Keep following this path.
But for now, welcome to the First-Rate Club. You’re one of us. Here is your crown.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
*****
If you found this post helpful, please consider sharing it on social media.
If you would like to read more about this, you might enjoy this short post:
Or this longer post:
You might also like this medium length post:
This is also a book I love about connecting with our sense of worthiness and purpose:
Brene Brown, Braving the Wilderness
Published by shellypruittjohnson
My name is Shelly Johnson, and I am a writer and philosopher with a Ph.D. in philosophy. One of my primary personal and philosophical interests is how we can learn to love ourselves and each other better in order to cultivate personal and political resilience. I teach ethics and a variety of other courses at a local college. I am the author of the blog Love is Stronger. I am also the author of three logic and critical thinking books for high school and middle school: _Argument Builder_, _Discovery of Deduction_ (co-author), and _Everyday Debate_, published by Classical Academic Press. You can reach me at shellypruittjohnson@gmail.com.
View all posts by shellypruittjohnson
Brought tears to my eyes. Thanks for sharing. And for my crown! I’ve always wanted one! 🙂
That means so much, M.B. I am so glad you found this helpful, and you definitely deserve a crown, Darling! <3
This totally made my day and also made me cry. Thanks for taking the time to write this. I’ve often struggled with feeling second rate at work or life, and sometimes it might be just a change in perspective.
Hey there, Friend! Well, your comment totally made my day! Thank you so much for writing this, and I am so glad my post helped. I felt second-rate the other day and had to remind myself of what I had written here. Sometimes I think I write this blog as much for me as for anyone else–it contains all the things I have to remind myself about.