“Celebrate how far you have come & who you have become. Today, celebrate YOU!”
One of the things I have realized as I have been on my career and life journey is that it is 100% OK for me to celebrate ME! It’s important for me to recognize the good things that I do, to allow myself grace and most importantly to set clear boundaries where I allow time to take care of myself and my needs.
As a working mother, wife, friend, daughter & sister to name just a few hats I wear, I used to feel guilty if I took time for me – and I bet I’m not the only one! Taking time for you, allowing yourself to be you and spending time appreciating the amazing qualities you have is honestly the only way you’re going to get through this life unscathed.
Shop my outfit by clicking any of these links – I use feeling good about how I look to strengthen my relationship with myself.
So how do you truly celebrate you? Here are some of my ideas, you may have others and I would love to hear about them:
When you do a good job allow yourself to receive praise. I used to be one of those women that was uncomfortable with people complimenting me – in fact whenever someone would say something nice about me I would find myself feeling a weird sensation so I would change the subject or turn the compliment to the person that had just taken the time to say something nice to me. Do you ever do that? When someone says “I love your dress” or “you look cute” do you find yourself saying “YOU look cute” or “your dress or outfit is way cuter?” I have found that it is only hard to take a compliment when you don’t feel that good about yourself.
Giving yourself grace to make mistakes can be the difference between a positive self appreciation and a negative one. We are all human, we are not always going to get things right, so why do we expect ourselves to? I would never put the level of expectation I have for myself onto another person – it wouldn’t be fair because it’s a level that is not humanly possible to achieve, so why do I do it? I am working on recognizing that I am not the most patient person, and I expect myself to be the best (or at least so I can see that I am working my way toward that), but when I feel like I have a setback, I tend to get frustrated with myself and don’t always think the best things. Just the fact that I am writing this and putting it out there lets you know that I realize that it’s OK and that I am cutting myself some slack!
Feed yourself emotionally. We all have different things that make us feel good, and whatever that is, we should do more of it. I love to spend time with my family (especially when not everyone is fighting), read, hike, shop, ride my bike, take a really hot bath at night, exercise regularly, hang out with friends, and every once in a while a good pedicure or massage is just what I need. Your list is going to be completely different than mine, so work from your list. If you love to cook or bake then that is where you’re going to want to spend more time. The point is, we are fed by doing things we love, so why do we not do more of them?
Connection is something that we are humans were meant to do. Whether you are married or not, my guess is that you have at least one relationship in your life that makes you feel good. We weren’t made to be alone. I do realize that for some people even when they are surrounded by people that love them there can still be that feeling of being alone. Even if it’s not something you feel all the time, there have probably been times that this is true. I have found that when I focus on the love that I have for myself and nurture my relationship with ME, the loneliness will very often subside.
Celebrate who you are, celebrate the amazing person that this world needs. No matter who you are there is a reason you’re here and there is something you can do to make this world a better place. Just believe in YOU!
The weekend is almost here – find something to do for yourself!