the abc's of self-love: c is for celebration

(♥)

“...choose to believe in
your own myth
your own glamour
your own spell
a young woman who does this
(even if she is just pretending)
has everything....”

Francesca Lia Block
How to (Un)cage a Girl

February is often dedicated to celebrating our love for others -- which is a wonderful thing, don't get me wrong -- but what about loving ourselves a little bit this month too? What about a little celebration for just being you? I say, let's do it! Let's take a day -- or, hey, why not take the rest of the month! -- and celebrate who you are. There's plenty of love to go around this month and it's the perfect time of year for embracing a little self-love.

Below are 10 ways you can get started on loving yourself today. But don't let these limit you! There are countless ways to celebrate who you are and I'd highly recommend focusing on those this month. Love is in the air -- why not direct a little of it back at yourself?

10 Ways to Celebrate Yourself

1. Give yourself a pat on the back. Go on, do it! You know you did something awesome recently. Yes, you! Take a moment and think back on the past week or so. Did you do something great at work or school? Were you extra-kind to a friend in need? Super patient with someone driving you crazy? Pat yourself on the back for a job well done. You deserve it!

2. Make a list of lovely things about you. I know this can be hard for some people, but it's important. Pull out a pen and notebook and get scribbling. There a million things that are awesome about you and I'm pretty sure you can identify at least 10-20 of them. Let your mind wander and write the truth. No one else has to see the list so don't be shy. Embrace self love!

3. Take (and remember) a compliment. You know how we always dwell on the negative things people say about us? It's hard not to, but try instead to dwell on the last compliment you received. If you find it hard to do, write it down somewhere you'll see it often to remind yourself. And keep doing that every single time you get a compliment.

4. Do something you're great at. Want to give yourself a self-love boost? Do something you're good at. Nothing makes you feel better about yourself, and fall more in love with who you are, than doing something you do well. Even if it's something small, do it. And do it as often as you can because, hey, we would all be doing the things we're good at as often as we can!

5. Throw yourself a party. Maybe isn't not the bash of the year, but you can throw yourself a little shindig and spend some quality time with the people who love you. No need to tell them isn't a party to celebrate you (though you could if you wanted to!), but take some time to literally celebrate yourself. Partying not your speed? Do something that makes you feel festive!

6. Get fancy -- for no good reason. And speaking of festive, why not dress up in some fancy clothes for no good reason! Everyone feels better about themselves when they put some effort into their appearance, but sometimes it's hard to find a good reason to get fancy. I'm hear to tell you that no good reason is necessary; every day is a good day to dress to impress (yourself).

7. Cut yourself some slack. You know how you're hard on yourself sometimes? You think you're too lazy/boring/bad/unhealthy/etc.? Take a few moments this month to cut yourself some slack. Sure, we all have bad habits we need to break (and we can do it too!), but don't be so hard on yourself. We're only human after all so give yourself a break.

8. Look in the mirror + pinpoint what you love. Unless you're a picture-perfect supermodel (and probably even if you are), this is tough. It's hard for almost anyone to look in the mirror and not see the flaws. We've been trained to do that, but try to switch your focus to the positive. Stand in front of the mirror and point out all the things you love about yourself. Instant self-love!

9. Take note of your good choices. We all love to go over and over what we did wrong to see what we could do differently. That's okay -- lessons learned and all that -- but what about spending some time on the good choices you've made. Don't let those slide by unnoticed. Focus on them; remember them. And remind yourself that you do, in fact, have a good head on your shoulders.

10. Read The ABCs of Self Love. Loving yourself can be tough and it always helps to have some tricks up your sleeve. These 26 little ideas will help you get started and will remind you of all the reasons you have to love yourself. You are awesome (even if you don't always realize it!) and you should love who you are. Trying these 26 tips will help you stay focused on what's great about you.

Want to get even more self-love goodness? There's no shortage of it in The Blog Crawl of Self-Love hosted by Molly Mahar of Stratejoy. Molly believes in the transformational power of truly adoring ourselves and so do I. Find out more about loving yourself and The ABC’s of Self Love Blog Crawl + Treasure Hunt here.