Finding Gratitude for Yourself

Be Grateful for Yourself

You are a unique and wonderful creature. The question we pose to you in this third week of Gratitude Month is: Are you honoring yourself with gratitude for who you are and what you give to the world?

As you build gratitude into your everyday life, don’t forget to look inward. We advocate for practicing gratitude in general because it helps people find greater contentment in what they have. Without a doubt, your biggest champion and closest ally is… you guessed it. It’s you.

On a tough day, when we struggle to keep up with all of our responsibilities, make a mistake, or encounter conflict in a relationship, it’s easy to start to feel a little down on ourselves, like we’re not good enough or we’re in over our heads. Not true!

The path out of that darkness is to give ourselves grace and embrace self-love. While it’s easy to focus on failures and negativity, it is empowering to meditate instead on our talents and all the things we’ve accomplished.

Being Grateful for Who You Are

If you’re keeping a gratitude journal – and even if you’re not – you have a special assignment this week. Offer gratitude for yourself by writing down everything that it took to make you who you are today.

It should be easy to make a list of all the things that are awesome about you, but if you need a few prompts to get started, we have you covered. Consider your…

Past Experiences: Everything that you’ve gone through, positive, negative, or neutral, was necessary to get you to the place where you are today. Be grateful for those important life lessons and how they shaped you, making you stronger and wiser.

Education & Training: Someone taught you something. In school, on the job, how to fish, or how to waltz. Be grateful for all the knowledge you’ve accumulated and recognize what you have been able to achieve because of the way you learn and the things you chose to study.

Skills & Talents: What is it that you can do better than anyone else? You might be a spreadsheet whiz or a cake baker extraordinaire. The fact that you have so many unique skills and talents and that you use them for the benefit of those around you is something to celebrate.

Sense of Humor: Witty, dry, corny, dark, or goofy? If you can make someone laugh or, even better, laugh at yourself, life gets better. Be grateful for the giggles that can’t be controlled, and the belly laughs from a bad dad joke. Everyone’s sense of humor is different, so be sure to appreciate yours.

Passion: What is it that gets your motor humming? There is something that drives you forward and inspires action. Your passion, whether based on instinct, personal history, or a mission that you’re on, is yours to own. It’s what makes you powerful. Be grateful for that guiding light inside (and follow it!!)

Gratitude is Self-Care

Be grateful for yourself, your strength, your inner glow, every day. You might even want to try an affirmation – write it down once a day or place a sticky note on your mirror where you’ll see it each morning. A friendly reminder to love yourself just as you are, to be kind to yourself, and to appreciate the miracle that is you. Let’s talk if you need help.