How Do You Carry Yourself?

I was listening to the radio on the drive home from the office tonight. It is one of the touchy feely stations that was playing Christmas music two days ago and now has the mellow music and call-in stories. A sixteen-year-old girl was interviewed who had chosen to work at Children's Hospital during the Christmas holiday from school. She ended her story by saying that today as she walked down the hall, she found her self walking with her head held high. She said she usually walked around looking at the ground. It took an altruistic deed to get her to realize how she presented herself to the world. How do you carry yourself? Do you check your posture, mannerisms, handshake? How much attention do you give to your clothing, hair, nails? What do you look like when you are under the weather? How do you carry yourself, when you are upset, angry, tired, happy? Several years ago, I read a book called "Lions Don't Need to Roar". While reading it, I realized that we are rarely aware of our physical state. There is a distinct benefit to looking people in the eye, giving a firm handshake, looking up as you walk, and connecting with the people around you. Clean hair in a neat style, properly fit and pressed clothes also allow people around you to connect. If you think that you are giving in to the "man" or conforming, so you have to continue with the purple dread locks and the pants hanging off your butt, you are missing out on connecting with a lot of people. You can fit in and still be yourself. The most elegant people add their own touches to classic looks. Being good to others also helps our confidence and gives us more reasons to meet others eye-to-eye. When we can give our time and energy to something outside ourselves we gain a sense of our positive impact on our world. Take the time to notice how you carry yourself during different situations adn at various times of the day. You are likely to find that your posture and mannerisms are affecting your emotions and reactions. When these reactions don't work for you, stand up straight, hold your head up, take a deep, slow breath and get your mind right.