I have been very inspired by a passionate plea from Kendra Sebelius in this past week to begin a movement to stop self hate. You can view a clip from Kendra at her voice in recovery blog as to why she believes this is so important for all of us. I entirely agree with any call to action that brings more love and less hate into the world and so I am jumping on board. I hope you will too. Read on for some wonderful ways to stop self hate and a giveaway!
Do you ever find yourself constantly questioning your worth as a person? Loathing the way you look? Talking negatively inside your head or even out loud about yourself? Believing you are not as good as others? Highlighting your supposed ‘flaws’ and that you aren’t good enough, strong enough, able enough, pretty enough or perfect enough?
If you do you are not alone. We all have times where we question ourselves and while that in itself is ok, constantly putting ourselves down and beating ourselves up is not. It’s an insidious form of self hate and body bullying that can see our self esteem and confidence plummet to murky depths. The reasons why we do this and think this way is different for every person but the antidote for us all is the same. Love. And in particular self love. While many of us may proudly proclaim we don’t hate or put others down, we are all too quick to do it to ourselves. Let’s say enough is enough. It’s time to stop thinking that putting ourselves down in this way is acceptable and ok. It’s not. It’s time to love.
I recently had a post here at Beautiful You that asked readers to leave comments on how they bought more self love into their lives. The sharing was amazing. As the opposite of self hate is self love I wanted to share all these brilliant and amazing ideas from real people with real voices and yes, real lives and concerns. They aren’t from a text book or online article. They come straight from the heart of people who are trying to be love and bring as much self love into their lives as possible. I hope they inspire you to love yourself more and once and for all reject any notion that you deserve anything but your best and utmost self love.
Princess: I focus on my good qualities such as my heart and smile – Tarnya: I wear bright colours that bring beauty and brightness into my life – Anna: I no longer straighten my curly hair, rather accepting it as it naturally is – Shelley: I focus on my blessings and live each day to the fullest – Melissa: I smile at myself in the mirror where once I was critical and negative – Jak: Every day I do something that brings me pleasure – Aimee: I remind myself every day of what I am really aiming for in life – Katie: I don’t read airbrushed magazines and critique myself – Stephanie: I remind myself I am fundamentally good which makes me less self critical – Bek: I have a photo of myself on the fridge which reminds me to treat myself with the kindness I would a child – Monica: I correct myself when I am critical knowing that my thoughts can change my world – Sue-Ellen: I read affirmations daily and have them placed all over my house – Katie: I take a few moments out every day to be quiet and still – Abbey: I follow people on Twitter I find inspirational – Meg: I use affirmations, meditations and crystals to bring more self love into my life – Lindy: I have started working out with a trainer and I use affirmations every day – Bronwen: I remind myself to always look deeper within than just what I look like – Tiffany: I gave away all my clothes that didn’t fit – Wendy: I have learned to forgive myself for being my harshest critic. Now I have moved on.
I hope that you find some inspiration in these beautiful and wise words. I am a big fan of affirmations and love to hear how people are using postive, loving and uplifting statements to themselves to bring more self love into their lives. An affirmation is essentially a statement or even a few words that you say to yourself in your mind or out loud that is positive and loving. If you have ever said something hateful and negative about yourself you CAN turn it into an affirmation. If you’re not sure where to start I am certain there are about to be some Beautiful You Members who are going to share and help you.
To continue this roll of self love I would love for you to share a self loving affirmation you use in your life or one that you WILL use. I am going to ask Kendra herself to choose an affirmation she loves to win this gorgeous pictured notebook that says on the cover ‘She Discovered Her Real Measurements Had Nothing to do With Numbers or Statistics.’ What a great notebook to win and I certainly hope that you know that your worth as a person has nothing to do with your weight or measurements. That’s something I know for sure.
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