Books to Blogs #16
Book: One Question A Day for Positivity
Date: January 26, 2026 – “Who sees the best in you?”
When I first read today’s question, my answer surprised me.
Who sees the best in you?
My answer was simple.
Me.
That wasn’t always true.
For a long time, I was much better at seeing my flaws than my strengths.
I could name what I was still working on far more easily than what I had already grown into.
Like many of us, I learned early how to be self-critical before I learned how to be self-compassionate.
I replayed old mistakes. I questioned my decisions. I minimized the parts of myself that came easily and magnified the ones that didn’t.
But somewhere along the way, something shifted.
Through experience.
Through healing.
Through doing this work long enough to recognize patterns, resilience, and quiet progress.
I learned how to see myself more clearly.
Not through perfection —
but through honesty.
Not through ego —
but through acceptance.
Today, I can say that I see the best in myself not because I think I have it all figured out,
but because I know how far I’ve come.
And that matters.
Seeing the best in yourself doesn’t mean ignoring your flaws.
It means understanding them with context.
It means recognizing the younger versions of yourself that did the best they could with what they knew at the time.
It means offering yourself the same patience and grace you so easily extend to others.
It also means learning to notice your strengths without apology.
The resilience you no longer question.
The intuition you trust more readily now.
The boundaries you finally learned how to hold.
The ways you show up with more honesty than you once could.
When I looked up the National Day Calendar for January 26, I smiled.
It’s:
- National Green Juice Day
- National Peanut Brittle Day
- National Bubble Wrap Day, the last Monday of January
- And National Spouses Day
Of all of those, one stood out.
Because while I may see the best in myself now,
my spouse is another person who sees both the best in me — and the worst.
And loves me anyway.
There is something very different about being seen by someone who witnesses your full humanity.
Not just your gifts.
But your doubts.
Your moods.
Your contradictions.
Your becoming.
The person who sees you on your best days and your hardest ones.
Who sees your strengths, but also knows your edges.
Who understands your patterns, your history, your defenses — and stays.
That kind of seeing is intimate.
It requires patience.
It requires forgiveness.
It requires staying in the room when things are uncomfortable.
And over time, I think something beautiful happens.
When we are truly seen by another —
and when we learn to truly see ourselves —
those two forms of vision begin to meet in the middle.
We become steadier inside.
Kinder.
Less interested in performing.
Less interested in proving.
More interested in being real.
We stop needing constant validation.
We start trusting our own knowing.
So today, my answer is:
Me.
And also…
The person who walks beside me closely enough to know both versions —
and chooses me anyway.
Gentle Closing Reflection Prompt
- When did you first begin to see the best in yourself?
- Who in your life sees both your light and your shadow with love?
- Where are you still learning to be kinder in the way you see yourself?
Theresa
Flexible Being
Empowering Your Journey to Healing, Clarity, and Self-Discovery.
Thank you for being here. If you enjoyed this post, there’s plenty more where that came from, everything from soulful healing tips to playful prompts and real conversations about life.
Find me and connect today. I want to learn about your story:
Email: theresa@flexiblebeing.com
Website: www.flexiblebeing.com
Instagram:
@theresamartinezshapiro
@flexiblebeing
Theresa Martinez-Shapiro
Hello! I am Theresa Martinez-Shapiro; Wife to Robert. Founder of Flexible Being. A Master Reiki Therapist, Certified Oracle Guide, Spiritual Mentor/Guide, Intuitive Empath, Coach, and Educator. I am a fur mom to 3 cats and 1 dog – Sonny, Patches, Ryelee, and Winnie. We currently live and practice in Stockton, California. We operate three businesses – Shapiro Holistic Health and Chiropractic, Fusion Health APC, and Synergy Health MSO, where we seek to improve and change the lives of our patients and those we have the privilege of crossing paths with. My healing and mentoring journey began around 5 years old when I discovered that I was put on this planet to help others. I knew I was different, unique, and gifted. I did not see the world the same way everyone else did, and recognized I was meant to do so much more. I began to research, spending a lot of time reading & asking a lot of questions to anyone that wanted to share stories about their life experiences. I am a dreamer and had a unique relationship with the dream world. My very real, vivid & lucid dreams began turning into out-of-body experiences and unexplained occurrences. I began doing my own dream interpretations to look for patterns & a new way of deciphering life. Family members were part of many different religions, so I was educated in Catholicism, Buddhism, Metaphysics, and Native American culture & beliefs. Along the way, I took up multiple mentors that cultivated my growth and expansion of my gifts, allowing me to focus on my potential and purpose. As an adult, coworkers were unloading their life stories, internal secrets, and things that had not been shared or even spoken out loud. I began to share those experiences with my aunt & Reiki Master/Teacher, Carmen. In 2012, Carmen told me, “I think you are ready to walk the path I always knew you were meant to walk”. That saying began my obsessive journey into Reiki, Spirituality, Psychology, Intuition and Psychic gifts, Meditation and Mindfulness, Past Lives, Consciousness, Energy Medicine, Mysteries of the Universe, Moon and Sun cycles, Astrology, Numerology, Oracle Cards, Shamanism, & so much more. My journey has helped me to assist patients, clients, families, and friends discover who they have been, who they are, and who they want to become. I am expanding my reach and educating others by authoring Musings of a Flexible Being, and I look forward to sharing my journey with you. Thank you! Theresa Martinez-Shapiro Flexible Being Website: www.flexiblebeing.com Socials: Facebook: @flexiblebeingonline Instagram:@theresamartinezshapiro Instagram: @flexiblebeing
