I Think I Like Myself…

How many times do you criticize yourself in a day? A little criticism can sometimes be helpful.  Too much criticism? Completely destructive! I used to feel guilty for complimenting myself. Somehow, complimenting myself seemed indulgent or even arrogant. For years I let negative thoughts cause me to fall into a deep depression and it was extremely difficult to pull myself out. I realized that I was much harder on myself than I was on others. One thing that I have learned from my IIN classes is that health is about more than exercise and food. Good health is having a good relationship with yourself. Be nice to yourself!

Here are a few things that I like about myself….

I am tenacious! I admit that I had to look up that word. I set goals for myself and I stick to them…even if it nearly kills me. Now that I am healthier, my goal is to run. Although it’s going slowly, I will eventually get there. I’m also determined to get my certification as a health coach, which means juggling home, school, the blog, and my job for the next year. Once, in Honduras,  I was determined to take a ride on a sea plane even though I was terrified of heights. My tenacity outweighed my fear.  I could call myself stubborn, but in the spirit of being positive, I am calling myself tenacious.

 

I have a sense of humor. Finding the humor in life has gotten me through many difficult situations. When having the pool installed this summer, we had one problem after another. The water kept filling the pool, slowing the progress. We took advantage of the mud by allowing the kids to have a huge mud fight.  You can see that post here. If I had a dollar for the times that I have said, “You can laugh or you can cry”……

I like my shoulders and my feet. Those are strange, random things to like. I like that my toes are all pointing the in correct direction and they are all the length they are supposed to be (with no extra joints). There are some things about my body that I will never like (we won’t even go there). Instead of focusing on how much I don’t like those parts, I cover those parts up and only focus on the things I do like. Perfection is never going to happen. “Good enough” can happen right now.

I have a big heart for animals and little kids. If I could save all of the animals and make all of the kids in the world happy, I would. Smokey knows that it’s true…..

I make an amazing homemade pie. It’s not as good as my moms (of course!) , but it’s close. I chill the ingredients, I roll out the dough, and I bake pies with a passion. My apple pie is the best.

 

I am an awesome mediator. I probably should have been a lawyer.I can see every side of every situation. I am the queen of compromise. If my kids don’t learn much else in my art class, they learn how to compromise and work out their issues. Just the other day, my husband complained that we are always having to compromise. He wants to be right and I want to be right, but we are completely different. It’s an issue for us.  This summer, when we were choosing a liner for the pool, he and I chose different designs. Because we had to compromise, we chose one together that was even better than either we had chosen on our own.

So, I’ve been a little down with the cooler weather and cloudy days. I’ve been hard on myself because I haven’t exercised as I should and I’ve fallen behind on my cleaning. I’ve decided that it’s ok to not be perfect and it’s ok to like my imperfect self. The next time I feel a little down again, I am going to remind myself of my good qualities. I challenge you to do the same. Because your fabulous self is amazing and unique!

What is something you like about yourself?