Thank yourself for being you. Often, we are so overly outer-focused that we miss the miracle of our own existence. You are here to discover and enjoy who you really are.
The more you appreciate yourself, the easier it is to feel and follow your heart’s wisdom. Your heart is your greatest navigational tool for life.
Are you at peace with who you are?
You can only ever be you, no matter how much you sometimes wish that weren’t the case.
One of the barriers to appreciating yourself is self judgment. When you judge yourself, you lose precious moments and turn down dead end roads. Self judgment is a habit, stuck in old neural pathways formed from past, painful events.
You can heal and transform the habit of being mean towards yourself and learn to see yourself in your true light.
It feels wonderful to kick an old habit that closes the shutters on sunshine.
The past, as experienced by the subconscious mind is not set in stone. In fact, the subconscious believes whatever you imagine. I use hypnotherapy for myself and my clients to heal and recreate a past experience in a new way that frees us to flourish.
You can also practice powerful pattern interrupts.
Here are three ways you can train yourself to think differently:
Catch when you automatically slip into judging yourself. As soon as you hear yourself judge, whether aloud or in your head, stop and take a deep breath. Choose again. Say, “Cancel” or whatever word works best. Then, say something positive about yourself instead.
Look into your eyes in a mirror. Take a deep breath and get curious. See your soul gazing back at you. Remove the lens of judgment so you can see yourself clearly. Keep looking until your heart softens.
Start with self acceptance. Tell yourself, “I accept myself just as I am.” Let your words sink in until you feel yourself breathe with relief and gratitude. Self acceptance is a first step towards recognizing what you appreciate about yourself.
Comparing yourself, or your life to others where you come up short is also a sign that you are not at peace with yourself.
I had to extricate myself from a stream of negative self comparison with a friend of mine. She was beautiful. Men fell into a trance the moment they set eyes on her. Money was so plentiful that she only worked when she felt like it — a fraction of the year. She was smart and had more talents that she excelled at than anyone I had ever known.
When I compared myself to her, I came up short.
So I asked myself, “Would I rather be Stella?”
My resounding response was “No!”
I had no desire to be . If I was Stella, I wouldn’t be me. Although I didn’t always show it, I liked being me. When I realized the gift of being me, I saw how being more myself was my key to success and happiness.
You are you for a reason. I believe that who we are, “warts and all” as the saying goes, is who we are meant to be to live out our purpose.
When you realize that you are not meant to be another version of anyone else other than yourself, it’s easier to thank yourself for being you.
As a coach, even though I was clear about how I love to support people, I would get side-tracked by making what other coaches were doing that was successful more important than digging deeper into the core of my own body of work. Returning to my own wisdom has only ever been the right way to go.
Your heart guides your life. You follow what you feel called to do in your heart. You love what you love. That’s exciting. Your life has evolved from you following your heart, or the times when you stepped away from your heart.
Once you really get that you can only ever be you, you may feel inspired to get to know yourself better. Discover more by digging deeper rather than spreading yourself thin. Balance activity with reflection and inner exploration.
Give yourself the appreciation and nourishment that you can long to receive from other people or external stimuli. Take a deep breath and thank yourself for being you.
Nicola Walker is an Anything is Possible mindset coach, with over 25 years of combined life coaching and hypnotherapy experience. She guides people to get clear and create what they long for. Nicola believes in the power of mindset and practical intuitive guidance to manifest your heart’s desires.
Nicola is the author of the forthcoming book, Joy in the Middle of the Mess: An Evolutionary Adventure on the Quest for Success. One of her greatest joys is to walk and hike in the hills and along the beautiful California beaches, near her home in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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