How many negative thoughts have you had about yourself today?
Five? Ten? More?
Maybe your day looks something like this:
You wake up and grumble at the readout on the bathroom scale, blaming your inability to maintain any semblance of self-control when it comes to eating out. At work a friend compliments you on your weightloss/big sale/promotion, but instead of saying "Thank You", you shift the credit to "Black really is slimming"/"Ah, that guy was gonna bite anyway"/"Right place, right time". After work, you hit the gym, but instead of thinking about how much progress you've made, you watch everyone else and think how much stronger/slimmer/more flexible they are. You fall asleep thinking about what mistakes you made and what might go wrong tomorrow.
Does that sound even a little bit like you?
Do you spend your time comparing yourself to others? Do you brush off compliments? Do you spend even a few minutes a day agonizing over your flaws, either real or imagined?
Let me just say...
Stop it!
You're worth so much more than that!
I can't remember who, but someone said that comparing yourself to someone else is like "Comparing your bloopers to someone else's highlight reel." (Know who said this? Let me know in the comments below.) This quote was originally about those who compare their life to what they see on their friends' Facebook pages, but it's really not limited to social networking sites. This is true in every part of our life.
It doesn't have to be this way.
It is possible to accept compliments and to truly believe them.
It is possible to accept your flaws as tiny pieces of a beautiful puzzle, because without them, you'd be left with holes in an unfinished piece of art.
It is possible to compare yourself only to yourself.
And it all starts with love.
Today, I want you to look in the mirror and say "I love you."
Today, I want you to feed yourself food that says to your body "I love you."
Today, I want you to hang out with people that make it easy for you love yourself.
And right now, I want you to repeat after me...
"Today, I shall love myself."
Photo by Jeff Kubina
"Today, I shall love myself."
ReplyDeleteThere! I feel much better!
Actually, Kim, my favorite suggestion in this post is STOP IT!
;-)
while i don't have a scale, i still find ways to put myself down on a daily basis :P
ReplyDeleteit's probably something stupid like not getting enough blog love and how hard it is to grow blogs.. something dorky and irrelevant to things that really matter.
i'm also really bad at accepting compliments. i find ways to downplay them.
need to work on this love myself thing. personal dev is one of my fav subjects..
Stop it! Love it!
ReplyDeleteThe way I think of it - all of that negativity is like mentally whipping oneself. You wouldn't whip someone else, so why is it okay for us to whip ourselves?
Bobbi, that's my favorite too!
ReplyDeleteFind a way to turn those negatives into positives! And keep reminding yourself that you're worthy of all the good stuff!
ReplyDeleteYou're completely right! What's that saying... If you wouldn't say it to your best friend, why would you say it to yourself?
ReplyDeleteToday I shall love myself!
ReplyDeleteWell I feel better. Remove that stinkin thinkin... to quote Joyce Meyer =-)
I find it very hard to accept compliments respond with "It's the color of the dress/right time right place".
ReplyDeleteFrom now on I am going to notice when I do this and "stop it".
Today I shall love myself. Ahhh, that does feel better.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how much all that negative stuff seems to weigh. Just taking a moment completely away from it makes me feel like dancing. :) Thanks for the nudge (or was that a shout?!) and the reminder.
I love that quote!
ReplyDeleteNoticing it is the first step!
ReplyDeleteI love that feeling! It's like this weight is lifted and you can almost float!
ReplyDeleteYes, that STOP IT really made me stop :)
ReplyDeleteGreat advice here, and I love that blooper quote.
I find it interesting to say say positive things to myself like like "I love you" and then track all the resistance as it comes up.
It's there anyway, and to be conscious of it is the first step to getting beyond it.
Thanks for the post!
I used to put myself down (in my head a lot). I wasn't doing _____. I didn't have time to ______. My husband and I decided to take back our lives, quit our jobs, and start a business together. We have made a commitment to eating healthy and exercising every day. If you told me six years ago that I would be saying this about me, I would have asked you what you're smoking! Great words, Kim. So glad I found your blog tonight. Looking forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteOooh that sounds like a good little experiment!
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by and commenting Tammy! Sounds like you've made some amazing progress! Congrats!
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