Joyful January Day #29: Give yourself some compliments

Look In A Mirror and Give Yourself Some Compliments 

Be your own cheerleader! 

Hey good looking!

Love those eyes

You are truly fabulous 

That's no surprise! 

(you might like to even come up with some actions for this if you feel inspired 😁) 

How often do we look in the mirror and only see our imperfections and flaws? 

Do you ever start listing them? Oh my bum, boobs, chin are too big or baggy. Oh there's another wrinkle, pimple, spot. Oh I'm so ugly. Oh I'm too fat, oh I'm too skinny. Oh my hair is too grey, too frizzy, too straight,  too brown, too boring, too messy, too... too... too... 

How many times have you berated yourself when you have made a mistake? I am so stupid! What an idiot! What was I thinking? I am always doing this sort of thing, when will I learn? A stream of insults internally beating up on yourself. 

Would you say these sorts of things to your best friend when you see them? Would you say them to the cashier at a supermarket or a waiter at a restaurant? Would you say them to a stranger you meet at a meeting or conference? 

So why is it OK to say it to yourself? 

This mean little voice isn't deliberately trying to hurt you, we can think of it as part of our caveman brain just trying to keep us safe by keeping us away from things that it thinks might hurt us like other people's judgement or being vulnerable and sticking out if we fail. These things won't kill us but our caveman brain can't really tell the difference between reality and perception. We can't necessary control the thoughts that come but we can control how much energy and attention we give them. We can change the types of thoughts that we feed off by being aware of what we are saying to ourselves and then we can start challenging them. 

A little dissatisfaction isn't always a bad thing as it can help motivate us to make positive change in our lives if we need to. Continually berating and putting ourselves down isn't helpful. It is useful to have that distinction. 

So when you look in the mirror... what might you see instead of a list of flaws and imperfections? You might see the stretch marks that showed the miracle of growing life. You might see the strong muscles that carry you every day. You might see that smile that lights up the room. You might see the frizzy hair that makes you unique. You might see the wrinkles that show the rich life you have lived so far, the joys and sorrows, the long summer days in the sun. You might see a person that is loved and cared for (by yourself and others!).

What can you say to yourself instead? 

You can try affirmations, these are statements that about yourself that you say to yourself. As it is often said, you've spent years putting yourself down so why not try and be kind to yourself and see what happens? Positive affirmations can teach our brain to believe these new thoughts rather than relying on old negative patterns.  

To create an affirmation: 

• phrase it positively 
• use 'I am'
• speak in the present tense 
• make it short and sweet 

You might start by listing some of the negative things you say to yourself often and then write the positive affirmation that counters this. This is not just what you see in the mirror, our physical presence, but other thoughts and beliefs we hold about ourselves. After creating our affirmations we need to keep saying them, out loud and internally, every day. If after a while they aren't working for you it may be that there is a deeper, older negative belief that you aren't aware of that is still ticking away like a music track on repeat in the background. Please note, if our thoughts are disrupting the ability for us to live a rich, fulfilling life then we may need to seek help and talk it through with someone. 

If nothing else today, please be kind to you! You are amazing, you are worthy, you are loved, you are making a difference, what you do makes a difference, you are beautiful, you are magnificent, you are worthy, and YOU ARE ALREADY ENOUGH! 

For more reading: 

5 Steps to Making Affirmations 

This Joyful January project is part of the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit: Restore your health, boost your wellbeing and embark on a happy healthy lifestyle for 2021

That is exactly what the Happy Healthy Teachers Matter Online Summit is all about. YOU having the knowledge, skills, support and most importantly the WHY to make your health, energy and vitality a priority for 2021 and beyond.

This was held live on 22nd - 24th Jan with 17+ heart centred wellness experts and a 3 hour vision board online workshop- recordings are available NOW Find out all the details here: please follow this link: https://www.spectrumeducation.com/happy-healthy-teachers-matter-online-summit-home/ 

Click here for a link to the Joyful January Calendar