Thanking Yourself

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In a follow-up to yesterday’s post, I want to talk more about thanking ourselves.

Recently, I tweaked my morning practice. I now spend the first 20 – 30 minutes of the day sitting in silence–not meditating but sitting in silence and listening.  It’s through this updated practice that I discovered I don’t really thank myself.  I console myself, treat myself from time-to-time, and I even spoil myself when I’m feeling particularly bruised.

But I hadn’t made it a regular practice to thank myself.

The benefits I’ve discovered in the short while that I’ve done this have been pleasantly surprising. As I said in yesterday’s post, it’s helping me turn away from the past, letting go of it, and, as I said in yesterday’s post, I’ve found that forgiveness–of myself and others–is a natural, welcomed consequence.

I’ve also discovered that it’s an effective way to “turn that frown upside down”. The disparaging things that people have said about me–and even the negative things I tell myself–can be neutralized with this technique.

For instance, if someone says that we’re stubborn, usually that has a negative connotation: that we’re ornery and prickly and not very nice people.  Needless to say, this can have a very bad impact on our self-esteem!

But, what if we took that statement, “you’re so stubborn”, and instead dug a little deeper in ourselves to find what’s going on. We probably aren’t agreeing to go along with what the other person wants for a very good reason.  It can be that the person didn’t think through what they’re asking us to do and we can see all sorts of pitfalls.  We should thank ourselves for being the type of people who thinks things through and do reasonable due diligence before undertaking something.  We need to thank ourselves for being in tune with our intuition and the warning bells that are alerting us to something that needs further investigation.

So, stubborn? Not hardly!  And, Yay Us for having the skill and nerve to speak up and do what we think is right!

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Also, I’ve found that thanking myself is a great way to start off the day. And, it’s also a great way to press the reset button on the day.  Naturally, it’s an excellent way to fall asleep, too!

You don’t have to make a big ordeal out of thanking yourself and it doesn’t have to be for Big Stuff. It can be for simple things such as “Thank you, me, for enjoying Nature and being able to give myself a lift by gazing at it through my window.”  Or “Thank you, me, for being diligent and persistent about understanding who I truly am.”  Or “Thank you, me, for choosing such good friends.” Or “Thank you, me, for buying fresh flowers for my home once a month.”  Or “Thank you, me, for always trying to see the good side of situations.” Or “Thank you, me, for giving people the benefit of the doubt.” Or “Thank you, me, for being a great cook!”

Simple things, ordinary things, the way you naturally are, the things you naturally do, are all excellent things to thank yourself for.

By making this a regular practice, you’ll find you feel lighter, more hopeful, and you’re more present in the moment and looking forward to the future. All good stuff!

Give it a try and let me know how it goes for you. Leave a comment!

Please pass this post along to a friend. Thanks!

Your Friend and Pep Pal,

Lauren

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