Removing Tags
We can't control the labels people give us. We can control what sticks.
From the moment we are born, labels get attached to us.
By parents, teachers, siblings, partners, friends. By ourselves.
The slow one.
The difficult one.
The dramatic one.
The clumsy one.
The unlucky one.
Some labels are given with love.
The reliable one.
The caring one.
The one who always shows up.
Some are worth keeping. Others have overstayed their welcome.
Labels attached in childhood that no longer fit.
Labels from people whose opinion you’ve long since outgrown.
Labels you’ve been carrying for someone else’s benefit, not your own.
Some labels we didn’t even consciously accept. We just stopped questioning them. And quietly, over years, they became part of how we see ourselves.
Finding and removing labels is a powerful visualization I use in sessions.
Eyes closed, some children find sticky notes all over their body.
Others find tags attached to their DNA. Like the 9-year-old girl who drew this picture.
In her imagination she used scissors to remove them. The scissors matter. It allowed her to decide for herself what stays and what goes.
That’s a different experience than being reassured. Reassurance comes from outside. This comes from inside.
Take a moment with this.
Think of the positive labels others have given you. Labels that make you smile, that make you stand taller. Sit with those for a moment.
Then look for worn, crumpled labels. The ones that confirm something you’ve always feared about yourself. The ones that show up uninvited when you’re about to do something that matters.
Ask yourself:
Does this label actually belong to me?
Who put it there and when?
Is it still true? Was it ever?
Am I carrying it for someone else?
Does it make me bigger or smaller?
You don’t control what people try to attach to you.
You do control what sticks.
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