Ever been labelled ‘Lazy’?
Have you ever been called ‘lazy’?
Do you think of yourself as ‘shy’?
I remember one afternoon as a young child in school. It was the last day of term when we were allowed to take board games in? Do they still do that? 
Everyone loved those afternoons it seemed, but I didn’t. It was the noise and chaos that was all too much for me.
On this particular afternoon, I hid myself in the book corner and read a book about a young man who was in love with a princess. She was a demanding type of woman as she told him she’d only accept him if he brought her a red rose. He searched for this flower everywhere but failed to find one. A red robin heard him weeping and asked why he was so upset, (robins can talk in books). When the young lad explained that he needed a red rose, the robin said he would find one, which he did, and the princess accepted it, and married the smitten young man. Little did he know that the red robin hadn’t found a red rose. He’d only found a white one. But believing in love, as he did, he pressed his red breast against a thorn of the white rose and his blood turned the rose red.
He died for love. 
Well. I SOBBED inconsolably when I read this story and maybe, if it brought a lump to your throat, you’re as sensitive as I am.
Have you ever been labelled ‘over-sensitive’?
In school, I was labelled… ‘shy’, ‘fussy’, ‘anti-social’, and ‘over-sensitive’. As an adult, I gave myself the labels of, ‘lazy’, ‘procrastinator’, and ‘introvert’. I understand that some labels are helpful when they’re a diagnosis which results in acquiring more support and treatment.
However, most of the labels other people give us can adversely affect us for the rest of our life. So can the ones we give ourselves. We identify with them SO much, we can stop believing we are capable of being the person we have the potential to be.
Believing I was shy stopped me being confident.
Believing I was lazy stopped me thinking I could achieve.
Believing I was over-sensitive made me feel I couldn’t cope.
Then I learnt about how damaging negative labels can be.
I decided that I could be fearless instead of fearful.
I could embrace my sensitivity as a superpower.
And, just maybe, I was ‘wise to rest’, not lazy.
Whatever we’ve been labelled as children or adults, it is not WHO WE ARE. They are just words. Words that have had a profound affect on us, but nevertheless, just words. Recall one label that has hurt you or taken away your confidence and say it out loud, over and over again, for thirty seconds. Yes, now. Try it now. Hear the sounds in the word and ask yourself if YOU could possibly BE this collection of letter sounds. We are not the words that have damaged us.
We are SO MUCH MORE.
Own your labels.
Change your labels.
DITCH your labels.
Be you.
And if you have enough courage, please share the label you’ve been given most in your life. When you say it out loud, you give it up, let it go and be who you truly are.
You are a wonderful human being, worthy of love, respect and freedom to be.
Label-less. 
If you would like help to apply Mindfulness to your personal situation or circumstance, drop me an email on: juliet@mindfulnessconsultant.co.uk or send me a message on Facebook.com/JoyArises