I love you.
How often do you tell yourself that? How often do we give so much love to others and turn into the wicked witch of the South on ourselves? I used to spend so many days just sitting there, completely disgusted with myself. There I was, not bothering anybody so my mind would bother me. It would call me ugly, it would tell me my body with its stretch marks and cellulite was damaged. It would tell me everyone would always leave me, that I was an ugly twisted soul.
You are more than that. You are more than the chaos that your mind will sometimes conceive. You've got to learn to put a toe in the water and allow yourself to let go of whatever trauma caused the scars that wrap your self esteem. Everyday is not going to be a happy, bubbly, day but it is a DAY. A day you got to wake up and BE. I can tell you to journal, to seek God, to start praying... and yes do all those things.
BUT there is no stronger power then visually seeing what's so beautiful inside of you. These are the three things that really help me (I say help because I am still doing the work):
- Get naked in the mirror and stare. Look at you. Naked. Compliment you.
- When you're in the shower, hold yourself. Kiss your arms, run your fingers down your hips and thighs. Compliment every single part of you.
- Create a vision wall, not a board. Choose a wall in your room that you see everyday. Start writing notes to yourself and tape it up. Print out motivational quotes, put them on the wall. Print out your desires, cut out things you like from a magazine. Make a habit of stopping and looking at the wall everyday. Make a habit of consistently adding to the wall. This is your vision. It is fluid. It is every changing. It gives what you put on it.
Also:
- Read the blog, "Brown Girls and the Inferiority Complex"
- Read the book, "The Body Keeps Score" by Bessel van der Kolk
- Listen to the video, "How to Improve Your Self-Esteem" by Les Brown
- Journaling is still effective. I'm always writing... sometimes its as simple as making a note in my iPhone or getting pen and paper. If you need a notebook check out our collection. CLICK HERE.