This year, I have had the pleasure of being a Responsibility.org ambassador. I was compensated to write this post, but all opinions of course, are my own.
It seems almost cliche to say this now, but this year…has been a year.
I’ve been spending time the last few weeks, thinking about this year, trying to find the lessons in it and trying to see where I go from here.
Because let’s be honest. This year has been complete crap!
I’ve been spinning my wheels trying to figure out..what did I learn from this year? What was good about it?
Well, I learned a little about self love.
Coping this year was HARD. But I had TIME, time to get to know myself, to get to know what I need, how I need to be treated and how to love me.
I sat in on a wonderful summit about a week ago with Artist, Activist, and founder of The Body Is Not an Apology, Sonya Renee Taylor and Responsibility.org that got me thinking about what is normal, how I self love is radical and how I can pass on these lessons to Pookah. Sonya had great suggestions and I want to share them with you.
How to Practice Self Love
1.Remove toxicity from your life!
If it doesn’t make you happy or bring you joy, get rid of it. A good example of this is your social media feed. If an account doesn’t bring you joy, teach your something , or add something to your life, don’t be afraid to get rid of it. I ruthlessly cull my instagram feed with no regard to friends or family. It’s my happy place, no toxicity allowed.
2. Stop being so hard on yourself
Part of self love involves showing yourself the compassion that you regularly show others. Stop being so hard on yourself! It’s so easy to put yourself down on what you didn’t get done, how your house looks, or how your thighs rub together!
FULL STOP! Self love doesn’t look like putting yourself down! Change that self talk and change your life.
3.Practice Gratefulness
This is something I try to start every day with. It can be as simple as being grateful that you woke up that morning, or being grateful for the perfect cup of coffee. Everyday, find something, ANYTHING to be grateful for. This was especially important to me this year.
4. Give Yourself Grace so that we can teach our children to do the same
This year was hard. Let’s go ahead and admit that. Processing this year and all that came with it was hard. It’s ok to give yourself grace about what you didn’t accomplish or how your kids spent the year on their devices instead of learning a new hobby.
It’s also importnant to have honest converstations with our kids on how we are coping. As Sonya says, ” Do not spin the story of the year. If we’re not honest, we can’t honor the year.”
We can’t honor how we have grown, how the pandemic has allowed us to grow or not grow. Modeling compassion for ourselves is important because our kids are watching us cope. Children model the behavior that they see. And we want them to learn the importance of self love and help them grow into confident adults.
Responsibility.org has great resources to help you start to have these conversations with your kids, make sure you check it out to start a conversation!
If you want to learn more about Sonya Renne Taylor, check out her book The Body is not an apology:The Power of Radical Self Love
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holly
Monday 23rd of November 2020
thank you for these reminders and encouragement. I have been practicing gratitude journaling for 20+ years and admittedly, this years' have been the hardest entries by far but have found them under the rocks of 2020. You have been a gentle voice of encouragement in this most unusual year. Thank you for continuing to give....