Being grateful for oneself and focusing on the good things about who we are can be hard. It can feel cocky or conceited. It’s all too easy and natural to get down on ourselves about things, but actually being willing to focus on our positive qualities and enjoy them isn’t so easy at all.
Honestly, writing this post is almost hard. Writing about how I’m grateful for other people in my life seems easy. Saying, “I’m grateful that I’m a beautiful, intelligent, creative, funny, loving person with lots of cool interests, and a passion for travel” is not as easy. Especially not sharing it publicly.
I don’t know, maybe it’s easier for other people. My guess though is that there are at least some other people out there that have the same struggle I do with owning up to my good qualities.
There are also times when my self-esteem seems to suddenly nose-dive. Times when I feel suddenly like I’m not any good at all. Times when I’m sure nobody likes me and I’m not sure I even like myself. Maybe if I spent more time on a regular basis to appreciate my good qualities, this wouldn’t happen so much. (It does seem that the older I get, these times become less frequent and less intense. This is probably normal.)
I think it’s important to take the time to focus on our good qualities. After all, it seems that the things that we focus on and are grateful for somehow kind of grow in our lives. When we want to encourage a behavior in a child, we take the time to recognize when the child does something good and reward it. So why not encourage our own good qualities by taking the time to be grateful for them?
So… a few of the things I’m grateful for about myself.
- I am genuinely curious and love learning about the world.
- I’m always seeking to improve- to find better ways of doing things and to become a better person, but at the same time, I try to be grateful for where I’m at and accept that perfection is a goal to work towards, not arrive at.
- I care deeply for other people and love it when I can make a difference for somebody else.
- I’m creative- I like to write, take pictures, draw, play drums, mess around in Photoshop, make pottery, sew or engage in just about any creative pursuit.
- I love to travel, explore, find new places and see new things.
- I’m out-doorsy and love hiking, biking, camping, just walking around outside and other naturey activities.
Me- Out doing lots of cool stuff!
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I hope this list has made you think a little about the things about yourself that you’re grateful for. How about getting out a piece of paper or opening up a document on your computer and taking a moment to write down 5 or 10 of these things? Here’s a few ideas to inspire you a little more:
- What qualities tend to run in your family and which of those do you also have?
- What are 5 (or 10 or 20 or 100) qualities that you like about yourself?
- What are some major things that you’ve accomplished that you’re proud of?
- What are some small things you’ve done well in the past day or week?
- What are cool interests that you have?
- Are there some qualities that you get down on yourself for that actually have a positive side too? (For example, sometimes I can be too stubborn and don’t know when to give up on something. This can also be a really positive thing.)
Do you practice daily gratitude? If so, consider aiming to pick one good thing about yourself to add to the list each day.
2 Responses
Lovely post! I’m going to take your questions and do my morning words around them and I glad I let myself get distracted by the internet before starting my morning words, even though I usually disapprove of myself when I do that. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the questions and glad that you let yourself get distracted this time. I can think of some good things about you like being a great writer and having the courage to travel around that could go on the list, but then maybe the point of this isn’t what others think is cool about you.