Hi, shorties 🙂 As you may know, I love Valentine’s Day. I love the colors, I love the sentiment, I just think a day dedicated to L-O-V-E is a great thing. Haters gonna hate!
This year for Valentine’s Day, I invite you to do something very special for your Number 1: you. There’s lots of great ways to pamper yourself, I think we’re all pretty aware of those things. A pedicure, a glass of wine, a girls’ weekend, a quiet night, netflix, a book, whatever. My idea is a little more outside-of-the-box than that.
I think you should write a love letter to yourself.
A love letter in which you explain what makes you so great. List your best attributes, and go into detail about it. Maybe even take this opportunity to forgive yourself for something that your self-talk beats up on yourself for: your weight, your messy home, your relationships, your shortcomings. Write about your strengths. Describe an anecdote that reveals something you did that you are proud of. List all of the goals that you met. Listing your accomplishments is a big self-confidence booster, which will lead to more successes. Reflect on a way in which you met adversity and leveled that shit to the ground. Reveal lesser known parts about yourself that make you rock, that most people wouldn’t even know.
Write the letter you would write to your best friend.
(((Because, our best friend really has to be ourselves. We are with ourselves 24/7/365. )))
Or perhaps another way to approach it, a bit more macabre, is to write it as if you were writing a eulogy. I know- super macabre!
(Macabre is one of the better French words, do you agree? It’s just so dark and… macabre.)
But yes, the reason why I bring up the eulogy bit is because if you wouldn’t write your best friend a letter like that- if you’re just not that touchy feely- maybe the eulogy reference would give you a boost of what I’m talking about.
(PS, just an aside- imagine if we gave eulogy-like speeches before people died so they could enjoy them? Hmph.)
So: write a love letter to yourself. It doesn’t have to be long. It doesn’t have to be a certain way. But tell yourself you “I love you.”
Instead of “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” – “How do I love ME? Let me count the ways.”
You may be asking, WHY ON EARTH WOULD I DO THIS????
You can reduce stress, improve your self-esteem, and feel better physically. Check out this Forbes article for some thoughts about why self-care is so important! Ultimately, this can be an exercise in your journey to seek joy, as you may reveal parts of yourself that were hidden, even to you!