Today I want to help you think about the way you love yourself. What are things you do that identify your value? We don’t focus on this subject very often; instead, we determine our value based on what we’ve accomplished. We tell ourselves, “I’ll take a break when I finish my list, or once I cross off everything, I can have a few minutes to read or do something I enjoy.” And then we feel frustrated when we do not meet our expectations.

     What if we approached it differently? This week on the podcast, I’m talking about love, specifically, what it means to love ourselves, how our choice to love ourselves impacts the kind of love we want from others, and how we can lower the walls around our hearts and let God love us. (If you struggle with approval addiction or the feeling that it’s hard to let God love you because you’re so used to fighting for yourself or doing everything on your own, I think you’ll find a sense of camaraderie by spending 10 minutes with me.)

     Here’s the thing. We have value and worth, not for what we do, but for who we are. And we have to choose to see it, embed that truth in our brain, and then act on it. Otherwise, we can end up in a cycle of approval addiction, disqualifying compliments, and feeling like we’ll never measure up.

     So, what does it look like to love yourself? It starts with identifying and acknowledging the good God places inside of you. It includes the willingness to give yourself grace instead of mandating unreasonably high expectations and incorporates meaningful downtime activities.

And we can accomplish this in three simple steps:

1. Acknowledge your goodness- what are the unique qualities God placed inside you?

2. Review your expectations- are they reasonable? Would you expect a friend to achieve/accomplish the same?

3. Schedule downtime every week- block out at least 2-3 15-minute segments on your calendar when you can do WHATEVER you want!

     Need some help with this? Send me a message.

With purpose,

Marie