You're pretty great, no matter what you think about yourself. How do I know? Because everyone is pretty great. We all have our own unique qualities that make us special, interesting, valuable and lovable. It's time to start celebrating those unique qualities that make you you. It's in the noticing and celebrating of our own special qualities that we let the light of ourselves shine out for the rest of the world to see. If we don't see it ourselves, how can we expect anyone else to?
So it's time to celebrate this beautiful woman that we all know as YOU! The weekend is here and there's no time like the present, so let's make this weekend into an impromptu celebration of everything that you bring to the table. Let's get started…
Love yourself
Write down three things that you love about yourself – they can be three things that you do really well (think knitting, organizing closets, putting together beautiful flower arrangements) or personality traits (kindness, generosity, patience). Don't sell yourself short – we all have things that we're good at, the problem is that remembering these things isn't one of them. Sometimes the things that we're good at come so naturally to us that we don't even realize what a gift they are. So if you're having trouble thinking of three – don't despair. Just start with one for now, and pay attention to yourself over the course of the day and think of two more. You'll be amazed at how many things you notice that you're great at!
Pamper yourself
Focus on making yourself happy this weekend. A few ideas:
Immerse yourself. Sure, it might be a cliché, but it's a good one - Draw yourself a nice hot bubble bath complete with some relaxing, rejuvenating aromatic bath salts, candles, soft music (or simply quiet if you prefer), and enjoy a long, hot soak. We are all intimately connected to water, and the feeling of water against our skin is simply renewing. Think of how it feels on your beautiful skin (yes, you have beautiful skin!)
Grab a cup of coffee, a friend, your dog, or just your own inner thoughts, and take an early morning stroll around the park and simply breathe in all of the nature.
Curl up on the couch with your most comforting comforter and read that book you haven't gotten to, watch a movie or catch up on your favorite shows.
The point is to do something you enjoy for yourself, and not because someone else wants you to. This is your time.
Go buy yourself something pretty
It doesn't need to be expensive, it just needs to be something that makes you feel special, feel good. Some pretty new cotton panties, a new pair of simple earrings or some new lipstick or eyeliner are all easy ways to bring beauty into your life.
An inexpensive bouquet of local flowers each week from the grocery store in a vase by your bedside table can brighten up your mood on a daily basis and doesn't cost much.
Put your best self forward
Wear your favorite knock-their-socks-off outfit just to go for a walk or to the grocery store. You can't help but strut your stuff with that air of confidence when you're wearing your hottest outfit, complete with all the accessories. Stop saving it for that special occasion and get some use out of it now!
Another way to feel your best is to wear your favorite lingerie under your everyday clothes even when you're doing mundane everyday things like running your errands. You'll be amazed at how much more confident you feel!
Make a dream list
Make a list of all of the things you've always dreamed of doing, both grand and simple. Wanted to walk on the Great Wall of China? Put it on the list. Wanted to go take a sailing lesson? Put it on there. Wanted to check out the famous theater downtown? Write it down. Then organize your list from most outlandish down to the simplest.
Now go down the list starting at the top, pick the first one that you can reasonably do now, and then go do it this weekend. You'll feel great when you scratch it off the list, and then you can plan another one for next weekend!
Connect with a friend
Call up one of your gal pals and let her know that you're ready for a celebration – just because! You can go out and celebrate each other – make a deal that you will prepare to tell her all of the wonderful things that you love about her in exchange for her telling you all of the things that she loves about you. You'll both feel great afterwards!
Loving yourself and recognizing all of the wonderful, valuable, and lovable qualities that make you the beautiful person that you are is the first step to having the kind of love in your life that you've been longing for. And the best part is, it's completely under your control!
So don't wait another second to start your weekend celebration of the beautiful, radiant, confident woman known as YOU!
Beautiful article and great tips! I definitely agree on wearing what looks best and doing what you feel like it... NOW!
Thank you, Jane!
Thanks, Monica - I'm glad you enjoyed these!
I agree that it's good to honor and appreciate yourself by filling up one's life with self-honoring activities. The fact is, most of us want love, whether male or female, straight or not or both, at the end of the day. I've seen myself and other get so into "loving themselves" that it eventually turned into counter-dependence. Co-dependent has a flip side and that is it, characterized by too much independence and autonomy, lots of close friends, a full life, never alone or lacking in enjoyment, but no significant other. That's the opposite of needy but just as bad because you need for nothing and anyone interested gets the message that they have no place in your life and/or aren't really needed/wanted/redundant.
Thanks for this alternative point of view, Jackie. While I agree that taking self-love to the point that you don't have any place in your life for a significant other is unhealthy, I think this is very rare; whereas a lack of self-love, feeling that we're just not good enough, is very common. I think if you are independent, have lots of close friends, a full life and are never lacking in enjoyment, but have no romantic love in your life, then there is probably something else that's keeping you find finding the love that you want. It may be that you choose unhealthy or emotionally unavailable men, or are being picky about the wrong things (as two possible examples out of many). These are all very common issues that we all have at one time or another (myself included), and can be changed by doing the work that is needed to see and understand these unhealthy patterns.
If you have high self-esteem, are independent, are not afraid of being alone, and know what you enjoy doing for your own sake (not because someone else tells you that you should enjoy it), then you are in a great place to examine your past relationships, romantic and otherwise, and learn to understand why you are making the choices you are making that are keeping you from finding true love, and then change those behaviors so that you learn how to spot the kind of guys that you really want. The first step is knowing your worth and loving yourself!