Inspiration Monday: Honor Yourself Day

In my most recent post, I asked you all to treat your dreams with respect and take yourselves seriously. A tough thing to do at times. It was wonderful to read your comments. I loved all of your comments and hope you made progress over the past couple of weeks.

This week, we’ll try something new. Get two pieces of paper. Then think of someone who you admire. It can be someone who has overcome all odds and is living their dream, someone who has inspired you, someone who is your mentor or muse–you decide. Honor this person in a short paragraph or two on one sheet of paper. What is it that makes them so worthy of your admiration and respect?

On the second sheet of paper, honor yourself. Give solid examples of what you like and respect about yourself. Take your time with this one. No need to be embarrassed here. This is for your eyes only. Nobody needs to see this unless you want them to.

For me, I found it so much easier to write about my inspirational person rather than write about myself. But once I actually started to think about this some more, it became less of a struggle. I hope you found this true for yourself too.

I think it is always easier to admire and yes, even envy, what other people have accomplished. But remember, this isn’t about anyone else. This isn’t about trying to do something someone is doing, or trying to beat someone else’s record. It’s not about trying to make your parents proud or getting someone else’s attention. It’s only about you, and what is good for you.

For today, take the small step of honoring yourself. Discover what you like about yourself, even love about yourself and find some small way to celebrate yourself. Just for today. Maybe you’ll even show respect to yourself the next day. Who knows? It might become a great habit–honoring yourself. I think you’ll find that underneath all the layers of modesty, you’re a pretty cool person who is capable of so much. No need to worry about what the next person is doing. You’re simply spectacular all by yourself.

I know this may seem like a hokey exercise, but if anything, I hope it will give you affirmation of your strengths and all things that you’re good at. Because odds are, most of us will get some form of rejection at one point or another. Nothing like a little bit of rejection to give you a big kick in the butt and make you question all you’ve built up and dreamed about. But when you acknowledge and respect your own abilities, you’re already armed with the most powerful shield to deflect those barbed jousts coming at you. I’m not gonna say it’ll be easy to hear any negative feedback, because I’ll be the first one to tell you that it just really bites. However, when you honor yourself and respect your abilities, you will make it easier to bounce back and and claim all that’s yours.

So. What are you waiting for? Don’t you deserve a little honor for all your efforts? How did you do?