Ah, Valentine's Day. The celebration of love. The demonstrations of affection. The heady, sweet confirmation that we are loved, special, unique, and deserving ... a confirmation we sometimes take too seriously, and place too much emphasis on. The truth of the matter is that no matter what the outside world does, or doesn't hand us today, we are already all of these things.
So for this Valentine's Day, make yourself the first recipient of your love and affection. Celebrate yourself, love yourself, and renew your relationship with yourself. Take a few moments to give yourself a valentine.
Affirmations:
- Loving myself heals me; body, mind, and soul.
- I deserve love and respect as I am.
- I love my body, care for it, and appreciate it.
- I choose happiness, no matter what my circumstances.
- I believe in myself and so do others.
- I am beautiful in mind, spirit, and body.
- I am unique, special, and deserving.
- I accept my body as it is.
- I honor, respect, and appreciate myself.
- I listen to and trust my inner wisdom.
- I treat myself with kindness.
- I create my thoughts and my reality.
- My beautiful body is home to my beautiful spirit.
- I lovingly create my own reality.
- I love and accept myself.
- Everyday gets better and better.
- My possibilities are endless.
- I am worthy.
- I release the past and live in the present.
Write:
Put it into words. Make a list of all the things you appreciate about yourself. No matter how small or unimportant it may seem to you at the time, write it down. Do you find this difficult to do? Pretend that someone you really care about has asked you to write down their positive attributes. Now, pretend that you are that someone. Take a step back and see yourself without any of the negative internal dialogue influencing your vision ... and write.
Write a letter to the negativity, that part of yourself that whispers or screams. Acknowledge it's existence. If you know why it exists, tell it so. If you don't, let it know that, too. Make it aware that no matter the reason for it "being," it is a separate entity from yourself and you don't need it around anymore ... then mentally pack it's bags for it and kick it out the door.
Write positive affirmations on pieces of paper and tape them to places you will see them often, throughout your day; the mirror, the dashboard, your pillow, the backdoor, over the kitchen sink. Read them aloud, with conviction. Stay in the moment and let the truth of those words sink in. Feel them.
Reaffirm what recovery means to you. Write down what you have gained (or will gain) from your recovery. Tuck the list in your wallet to take out and read when you need reminding.
Choose a small, positive change you'd like to achieve and make it your goal for the month. Write it down in a pocket calendar. Set aside time each day to give to that change. Even the smallest of changes can make a big difference in your life.
Write a letter to your body and let it know that you're grateful for all it has done for you.
Keep a gratitude journal. Each night, before bed, write down something (big or small,) from your day that you're grateful for.
Write down the things that you keep to yourself, the scary things, the nagging secrets of truth or imagination that we are all familiar with. Those things that haunt you, tug at you, and surface to suck the life and joy out of life. Bring them out from their hidden places. Write them each on their own piece of paper. Whether they be real or imagined, read each one and acknowledge that they are what they are but they do not define you. Then tear them into tiny pieces, flush them down the toilet... whatever will have the most significant impact for you.
Speak up. Speak out. Say it aloud. Say it with kindness:
Speak kindly of yourself when talking to others. Be positive. Be confident. Speak kindly to yourself, too. If you wouldn't say it to someone you love and respect then don't say it to/about yourself. If you have a hard time doing this, fake it. Yes, fake it! How do things become a part of our everyday lives, become second nature? Practice. Repetitiveness. As the recovery quote goes... fake it until you make it.
Quotes:
It is not selfish or narcissistic to love yourself. It is your first and foremost responsibility.
~Alan Cohen
The first thing is to convince yourself that life's more fun if you love yourself. Don't worry about trying to find other people to love you. Love yourself first.
~Dr. Lynn Cutts
Loving yourself allows you to see the beauty in others. It opens your senses to the brilliance of divine light, to the sweetness of your own life experience and to the power of your focused incarnation. Loving yourself allows your consciousness to assume the shape of love, which makes you at once loving and lovable. But most of us are very stingy with the love we offer ourselves. ~Rebbie Straubing
Respect yourself and others will respect you.
~Confucius
Love yourself—accept yourself—forgive yourself—and be good to yourself, because without you the rest of us are without a source of many wonderful things.
~Leo F. Buscaglia
Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.
~Les Brown
Remember to be yourself, can't think of anyone better qualified.
~Pharnell Raines
When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
~Lao-Tzu
Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not you go out and look for a successful personality an duplicate it.
~Bruce Lee
Trust yourself. Think for yourself. Act for yourself. Speak for yourself. Be yourself. Imitation is suicide.
~Marva Collins
An individual's self-concept is the core of his personality. It affects every aspect of human behavior: the ability to learn, the capacity to grow and change. A strong, positive self-image is the best possible preparation for success in life.
~Dr. Joyce Brothers
Nobody will think you're somebody if you don't think so yourself.
~African-American proverb
Self-love is not opposed to the love of others.
~Dr. Karl Menninger
Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.
~Maya Angelou
Happy Valentine's Day!
Check these out:
Starting To Love Yourself
Making Me Magazine. Written by Melissa of Finding Melissa.
Valentine's Day Doesn't Have To Suck Again
To Write Love On Her Arms
Self-Worth: The Unconditional Love Of Self
Using Affirmations
Believing in Yourself
Self-Love Quotes
Self-Worth Quotes
Our Bodies
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