5 Things I Like About Myself

[EdwardC]

The other day I had a revelation which struck me in that I never realized it before that moment and must have a deep subconscious effect.

I have a tendency to point out to myself the many things I do not like about myself or am ashamed of or wish I could change... etc. etc. etc. Sound familiar to any of you? I takes almost no effort to put myself down. And then it struck me, why not make a list of the things I do like about myself, am proud of, feel good about... and I was stumped. I had never before thought about myself from that perspective and what was worse, it took me several minutes before I could come up with something positive to say about myself. And even longer to make a list of five things! i felt almost embarrassed to say something nice to myself as if I had to apologize for it...

And, I found it difficult to be unequivocally positive. It was always: "despite these bad things i still kind of like this about myself"... as opposed to: "I like that I am this." Where I have no problem saying: "I hate this about me."

I'm shocked that I subconsciously beat myself up simply because I don't bother looking at myself from a positive place but always manage to - without even realizing it - talk myself down.

Since my revelation I have made it a point to think about things I like about myself. To correct negative thinking with something positive... To turn that part of me around.

And one thing I like about myself is that I have empowered myself to be more positive towards me.

Any thoughts?

[Guest SomethingOrOther]

Hi,

I just wanted to say that I have a similar problem with finding positive points. Also when I know about one, I'm more likely to dismiss it as something I was "simply born with", than I would dismiss something I'm not good at. Now that I'm applying for jobs, I have to really sit down and find good points, just so that I don't end up talking about everything I'm not so good at in the interview.

I hope you find some more things for your list.

S.

[Verbally abused?]

When I think about things I like about myself, it seems I always counter it with something. I feel the need to put specific examples here...

1-I have mothered 3 helathy girls (good) can't stop hubs from being emotionally abusive to them (not good).

2-I like some of the food I cook (good) it is fattening (not good).

It is like the physics law which states "for every action, ther is an equal and opposite reaction".....my brain works this way when refering to myself.

[EdwardC]

Hi,

I just wanted to say that I have a similar problem with finding positive points. Also when I know about one, I'm more likely to dismiss it as something I was "simply born with", than I would dismiss something I'm not good at. Now that I'm applying for jobs, I have to really sit down and find good points, just so that I don't end up talking about everything I'm not so good at in the interview.

I hope you find some more things for your list.

S.

I'm certainly finding more things for the list... turns out there is plenty to like about myself. It's a matter of making a choice of taking a positive approach. As this is not automatic or natural for me to do, I find it needs a bit more of a nudge and I try to remember to think of something positive a couple of times a day and turn around any negative thinking I do... or at least counter it with something positive... At least there is an alarm bell that goes off when I catch myself thinking something negative... which is a start.

It seems ridiculous that I have succumbed to my own negative propaganda all these years.

I wish you luck in your preparations for your interview. You too will find plenty of positive things about yourself as they must certainly be there. Enjoy the exercise and hopefully it cheers you up a bit as it has me!

[EdwardC]

When I think about things I like about myself, it seems I always counter it with something. I feel the need to put specific examples here...

1-I have mothered 3 helathy girls (good) can't stop hubs from being emotionally abusive to them (not good).

2-I like some of the food I cook (good) it is fattening (not good).

It is like the physics law which states "for every action, ther is an equal and opposite reaction".....my brain works this way when refering to myself.

Do you also turn your negative comments around to say something positive... physical laws should go both ways right?

so

"this food is fattening yet I love the way I cooked it!"

or

"I can't stop my husband from being emotionally abusive but I have mothered three healthy girls!"

Perhaps by turning negative around into positive you empower change in the things you don't like... just as the negative thoughts have the power to make you feel bad even about something good...