Sometimes it’s easy to feel like what you are doing isn’t making a huge difference in the world but the truth is, everyone can make a difference. Even more than that, everyone is making a difference, be it positive or negative.
Recently I received a card in the mail from a sweet blogger friend who has been reading my blog since before it became Charismatic Concepts. The card was a reminder that even when I think no one is listening, it is still so important to speak my truth. Reaching one person, making one person’s day better, putting a smile on one face, makes it all worth it.
I stared out this year saying that I wanted it to be a year of action. Luckily, I have great friends who continue to push me towards that action. That card definitely was a sign that it is time for me to take action again.
As some of you know, I use to blog on Saturdays about self-love. Every week I would share advice and compete an exercise in self-love. Although I had many ideas planned out for Saturdays way into the future, one day I abruptly stopped. It wasn’t because I don’t love myself or that I felt like the exercises weren’t great. What I felt was that I wasn’t growing and I wasn’t learning to love myself any more than I did before. If I am being completely honest, I really do love myself. In fact, it would be fair to say that I love myself a lot. However, I don’t think it would be honest to say that I love all of myself. I really love the person that I am, my unique personality, the way I treat others, my talents, my flaws, my quirks…I have learned to love and embrace them all. I completely love who I am on the inside. I haven’t however, learned to unconditionally love the outside of me.
Paying more attention to who I am on the inside has really paid off because I am happy and confident with who I am. However, over the last few months I have realized that it is important to love what you see in the mirror staring back at you. My reflection will never be as important as my personality but it is still important to learn to love that part of myself unconditionally.
Over the years as the world has become selfie obsessed, I have made excuses to hide behind my camera. I figured that we all have our hang ups and it is not as if I hate my reflection so I would just push the thought aside and focus on what I love.
I don’t want to do that anymore.
I want to learn to love this one body that I have, this skin that I have, this hair that I have, these eyes that I have as unconditionally as I love what is on the inside. So starting this Saturday I am going to take action and give myself a REAL self-love challenge. Every Saturday I will step out from behind my camera and take a self-portrait. I won’t photoshop it or point out what I don’t like about it. I will post it and share it with the world. I will celebrate my unique beauty and everything that makes me look like me. I will learn to love all of myself, both inside and out.
