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The date on this edition of Monday Motivation -- February 14 -- brings to mind the person who believes in me more than anyone else in the world -- my wife.

In each of our lives, we have people who believe in us. They may be employers, spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, daughters, sons, mothers, fathers, little sisters, or a vast accumulation of people big and small who have learned to place their trust in us and our abilities.

Sometimes -- even most of the time -- they believe in us even when we don't believe in ourselves. Occasionally they find that their belief was misplaced.

But more often, we discount our abilities and our worth more than they ever would. It's because for many of us, the vantage point that others have is more accurate than the one we see when we look in the mirror.

For some reason, many of us will not give ourselves a break -- we will gladly extend a break to others -- from a trusted family member to a stranger on the street. We will think the best of them, expect the best of them, and if they may fall short a bit, we will give them the benefit of the doubt.

Although most of us are our own fiercest critic, and perhaps rightfully so if change and growth is to progress, we still need to occasionally give ourselves the kind of support, care, and love that the people around us already give us.

Too many of us -- myself included -- are too quick to focus on our problem areas, not those areas where we have something significant to offer. We are like the beautiful swimsuit model who focuses on her ugly wrists. We overlook the great points in order to concentrate on those areas where we tell ourselves that we fall short.

Sure, there are those who ignore big problems in their own lives, and criticize the little problems that are in the lives of others. There are people who are so super-self-assured that they become arrogant. For those people, I have little hope, but for those of us who are hard on ourselves unnecessarily, now's the time to look at ourselves using the reflections that are in our loved ones' eyes. Now's the time to learn to give yourself the same love and kindness that you would give to anyone. You will never have an accurate opinion of yourself, and see the areas where you need to improve, until you see both sides of the equation.

Copyright, 2011, by Daryl R. Gibson. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for the non-commercial redistribution of this document as long as it remains intact with this copyright and all other lines. This license does not extend to the use of this material in a compilation, whether for profit or non-profit use. Join us at http://www.Weekdaywisdom.com.