How do you stop seeing yourself through the eyes of others?

You are not the image others see of you; you are the image you hold of yourself.

We often live our lives preoccupied with the question:
"How do people see me?"

Do they see me as strong?
Do they see me as weak?
Do they see me as successful?
Do they see me as a good person?
Do they think I’ve changed?
Did they judge me based on a single situation?

But the truth is, people often see only a tiny fraction of who you are—
A single situation, one decision, a reaction in a fleeting moment, or perhaps just a specific image of you that they’ve encountered.

But no one has seen the whole story.

No one has seen the battles you fought in silence.
No one has seen how many times you fell and picked yourself back up alone.
No one knows why you chose to walk away.
Or what made you say "no" after a lifetime of saying "yes."
Or what shifted inside you to bring about that change.

That is why not every judgment others pass on you has to become your reality.

Someone might perceive you as cold, when in truth, you were simply trying to protect yourself.

Someone might see you as strong and unaffected, unaware of the things that break you deep down.

Someone might view your decision as selfish, not realizing that it was the first time you chose yourself.

And someone might think you are a completely different person from who you truly are, simply because they only knew one version of you—at one specific stage—rather than all the versions you have lived through.

You are under no obligation to explain yourself to everyone who misunderstands you.

Not everyone needs to know your full story to respect your choices. You don’t need to spend all your time proving that your intentions were good, or that you aren’t the person they imagine you to be.

What matters most is that *you* know yourself.

Knowing your worth.
Knowing your boundaries.
Knowing your goals.
And knowing why you do what you do.

Because in the end...

People only see a part of the movie,
But you lived the whole thing.

So, don’t let the opinion of someone who saw just one scene...
Make you doubt your entire life story. 
Dr. Shrine