2 years ago I made a conscious decision to love myself more and seek active ways to grow my love for myself. Since then, everything has changed in the most dramatic ways. I've dealt with some of my greatest heartache and I've experienced some of my greatest joy. I've left my job, my spouse left me, I've made some remarkable friendships, and I began writing and mentoring professionally. I'll definitely share in greater detail about that process in the very near future. I believe the more transparent I am with you, the more powerful your story will become for you and the more inspired you'll be. But today I want to share a very practical way for you to put some action behind any desire you might have to love yourself more. Stop what you're doing and try this out. It won't take long, but it's going to be worth it as a practical way to shift your emotional energy and express to yourself that you love yourself. I learned it from Gala Darling. Sit down for 10 minutes and write down every compliment that you've ever received. List them all out. Now you may think that this will be difficult, but it won't. When you start, close your eyes, take 2 of the deepest breathes you've ever taken, holding them for 5 seconds at the end of your inhale. Picture yourself sitting in the field of your choice. You determine the flowers, the height of the grass or wheat or whatever grows in your field. The sky is the perfect amount of blue. Relax... and the memories of the compliments will come to you. Set your timer for 10 minutes and begin writing down all the compliments you've ever received. You don't have to have even believed the person telling you the compliment at the time. But write it down anyway. When the timer goes off, you're done.
Now, look back over that list and allow those compliments to sink in. Throughout your day, look back at that list of compliments. Allow them to hit you with a bit of force. Often times we don't trust ourselves or what we think. But if you're looking at a list that was literally created by other people, you may find your emotional energy towards yourself shifting due to the perceptions of other people. This exercise is not about pumping yourself up or about inflating your ego. It's about learning how to take a compliment and how to accept it without a fight. So there is only 1 rule when you look at this list. You aren't allowed to argue with your list. As soon as you hear the voice that says, "that's not true about you" or "you don't deserve that compliment", you have to picture that voice being a tiny paper boat floating down a stream and away from you, out of sight. And then, continue on with the list. It's that simple.
Stop reading this right now and try it. Remember to read this list a couple more times today. I hope it opens up a path for a little more love for yourself to grow.
________________________________________________________
"Who looks outside, dreams, who looks inside, awakes." ~Carl Gustav Jung
"You are very powerful, provided you know how powerful you are." ~Yogi Bhajan
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. " ~Ralph Waldo Emerson