Love yourself.
Love yourself.
Easier said than done right? It's hard to see who you really are when you're constantly seeing yourself through your own mind. My college professor once said he was so sad that his wife would never see herself through his eyes. That comment stuck with me. It is such a powerful thought that we will never truly see ourselves as who we are, but as the tainted versions of ourselves we create in our mind.
Last week for What Gives You Hope Wednesday I was talking about self-care (You can view the video by clicking here and scrolling down to the Mental Health Awareness Month video). The truth is - I didn't feel like getting out of bed that day. Do you ever just wake up feeling off and you don't really know why? Well as the day progressed, I started to feel a lot better. It is because I practiced self-care.
Over this past weekend, I watched a few Ted Talks. The talk I watched last night positively influenced my day today. The talk was "Ending the Pursuit of Perfection" by Iskra Lawrence. You have probably seen Iskra before. She is a model for Aerie and an amazing advocate for body positivity.
The title of her talk pulled me in. I am a perfectionist and it doesn't make life easy. When you're on the pursuit of perfection, you only see what is wrong, not everything that is right. This is a topic I was recently talking to one of my good friends about. She was telling me how being a perfectionist can be harmful to yourself because you will self-sabotage your goals.
When you're a perfectionist, you're not living in the now - only living in the 'what is wrong with me right now.' It is so important to be happy with where you're in this moment. If you keep focusing on happiness in the future, you miss out on living in the present.
You can watch Iskra's Ted Talk below:
"And watch your life positively grow when you give up the pursuit of perfection because the real beauty ideal is being imperfectly you," said Iskra.
Inspirational stuff right? Today when I started to see what I believed to be wrong with me, I used Iskra's tip of self-care. After I said five things I loved about myself, I felt so much better. We need to focus on everything that is right with where we are - instead of focusing about what is wrong.
"I want you to understand that if you learn self-care, practice self-care, you can then gift self-care. Imagine being able to give your loved ones the gift of self love," said Iskra.
Earlier today, my mom was saying something about her body she didn't like. I then told her to say five things she loved about her body right now. After she said them, she was a lot happier and so was I. Self-care not only feels good for yourself, but also when you see your loved ones using it as well.
\\ If there's a light at the end - it's just the sun in your eyes. //
So here I am - learning to be happy with where I am in life. This is my pledge that I will no longer wish for perfection, but joy with where I am. I am enough right where I am in life and so are you. Life is beautiful, start enjoying it, and remember that you're beautiful too.
What do you do for self-care? I'd love to hear about your favorite self-care routine and how you practice self love in the comment section.