[Tweet “Often what we love about others is a reflection of what we can develop and love within ourselves.”] Admiration can be very powerful if used correctly and with proper application it can lead to subtle yet miraculous shifts in our lives.
Sure you’ve heard the word, and maybe you have found yourself silently admiring someone from a far. Sometimes we find ourselves feeling jealous even. But what if instead of allowing feelings of jealously to creep in, we let our admiration become a stepping stone for guidance.
When we dive a little deeper in our definition of this, we can begin a more thoughtful exercise and in turn we actually experience a richer connection to ourselves.
Have you really given thought to who and what you admire?
What is it that you admire about them exactly?
Usually when we have admiration for someone or something it indicates a quality or set of characteristics that we wish to possess. Therefore, it is wise to identify those qualities that come to our minds when answering these questions.
Admiration is a form of respect. It is also a mark of maturity, in my opinion. What we admire, we have a high regard for. Therefore, this practice is can be a great exercise for personal development and growth as it lends us to practicing respect as well as learning more about ourselves by opening up to the idea that we have room to grow.
When addressing things we admire, we end up with road map for what we want to strive for. Then when faced with decisions, we can easily navigate with it as we approach various areas of our lives.
For anyone that knows me, you know my parents are my best friends. I spend more time with them than anyone else, by choice. I have an incredible admiration for my parents for so many reasons it would take days to name.
I made a list one day of all the things I admire about each of them. Not only did it help me to think of things that I want to be better with for myself, but it also filled me with more love, appreciation, respect and overall gratitude for each of them in their own ways.
So, now when I’m making a decision or if presented with a difficult situation, I can fall back on these things that I admire to help guide me as I deal with important life situations.
I often ask myself: “How would my parents handle this?” or “What would my dad say?” or “Would my mom do this?” Because I admire their qualities, I try to mirror them in my own life.
As you can imagine when I quit drinking and doing drugs, the qualities I had identified as admirable were extremely helpful to use as a daily guide. Because I had a solid foundation of things I truly desired to have in my life, it made it easier to choose staying sober in an effort to obtain those qualities.
Try it for yourself.
1) Pick someone that you admire. It can be anyone. A lot of people admire Oprah, although they may not “know” her personally, there are qualities they know from what they have seen that they admire.
2) Make a list of what it is that you admire. Think about it with careful consideration.
3) Then once you have your list, apply it further. Why do you love these things? And I’m not talking about admiring someone for their great hair or beautiful looks, try to focus on qualities of character or accomplishments.
4) Next to each one, tell yourself how you can work on having more of this for yourself.
5) When you are finished, mindfully review it taking a mental note of your list. Pull it out from time to time to check yourself. And refer to it in your mind as often as you need to.
What we admire in others has the ability to shape our lives tremendously. When we take the time to make notice of people we admire, it uplifts us and paves the way for us to have appreciation rather than resentment. When we practice admiration and appreciation, we open our hearts to have more meaningful experiences and ultimately we create a space to see our own reflection in the eyes of others.