To love and accept yourself is probably one of the most difficult tasks in life. When did you last look into the mirror and smile at yourself instead of focusing on the zit or the new greys? Or the onset of wrinkles? Being thankful that you love yourself is an ongoing journey. And when you choose ways to love yourself, you will realize that it will be a monumental factor that will affect all the other areas of life as well.
“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection” ~ Buddha
How to practice being thankful in life
This post is all about being thankful for who I am and just snippets from my journey.
1. Appreciate yourself
We all make those mistakes. Instead of berating yourself, accept the mistake and learn to move on. It has taken me years to appreciate myself. Being self-critical is a lot easier than appreciating yourself. When in doubt, I write. I list five things that are good about me. When you do that, you look at yourself in a different light.
2. Let go. Detach.
It would upset me if things didn’t go as I expected. Trust me, sometimes it still does. My happiness was related to my expectations. It takes great strength to let go and detach. On a perfectly bright fine sunny morning, maybe you’ll be surrounded by a barrage of thoughts, incidents, and choices you made that did not make you happy. But when you detach, the pain is lesser.
3. Use affirmations
Affirmations are short sentences that you use to train your mind to become more positive. Maintain a small notebook in which you write all your affirmations. Repeat till you believe in it!
4. Form habits
Do you know it takes roughly 30 days of constant practicing to help you form a habit? Whatever mode you choose, whatever option you choose for yourself, give yourself time to make it a habit. Even if it is something as simple as looking at yourself in the mirror and saying that you love yourself. Look at yourself in the eye and mean every word you say.
5. Enjoy what you do
Sometimes it doesn’t feel right. A chore or the latest assignment stresses me out, or I feel completely tensed and just bogged down with the sheer volume of work. If that happens to you often, these are signals that you should acknowledge. You are not enjoying what you are doing. When you’re doing what’s right for you, it feels wonderful, and you enjoy the work.
6. Expand your interests
When was the last time you tried something new? A new language? A new hobby? Solo travel or just take that plunge to do things that you haven’t done before? Discover organic living. Eat healthy for a month! There is so much that you can do. You should love and live your life to the fullest.
Being thankful for what you have and practicing gratitude can be life-changing. Sometimes when we are in the phase when we feel everything is just falling apart or not going by as planned, we find it so easy to complain and crib, but when you try living with gratitude, and thank the things in life, your perspective changes and the magic begins to unfold. What are you thankful for in life? Leave a comment and let me know.
I think I need to try affirmations.
YEs! We can connect for them. I can help you:)