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How to Like Who You Are

You know those people – the ones that seemingly always like who they are.

The ones who ooze confidence and chutzpah.

How do they do it?

More importantly, how can you do it, if you have trouble letting your light shine?

How to Like Who You Are

♫ This little light of mine…♫

Remember that song from your childhood? The one that reminds you to let your light shine?

It was written as a gospel song for children, but for much of my adult life, I have related to the lyrics when feeling aligned with who I was called to be.

In order to let your light shine, you have to like yourself.

Full Disclosure: I’ve never had an issue with liking who I am.

I LOVE ME (while painfully aware others do not – acquired taste, people). I wanna marry me – or at least, I would if I could, and I would totally be my bff.

Yet, in all that self-assured self-love (get your mind outta the gutta!), there have most assuredly been times when I have doubted myself, have wondered who the hell I thought I was, and have even crowned myself The Assiest Ass Whoever Assed.

It’s normal.

But, to answer my own question of do you like who you are? Yes. Yes, I do.

Do you?

I’m hoping like hell the answer is yes…ALL THE YESES!

If not, if you’re not sure you like you, if you’re on the fence about you, what can you do about it?

Can you simply tell the heart not to believe what it believes?

I don’t think so.

When we believe anything, that belief is based on events, information, and culture.

If we have been raised to believe, if we have lived a life saturated in opinion that bends us in spirit to accommodate a belief, if we feel there is a significant price to pay (physically, mentally or spiritually) for difference of thought, then most of us stay the course with the majority.

That was then; this is now. You’re a grown-ass adult. You get to believe what you want.

You are allowed to like yourself, right where you are, complexities and scars evident to all.

How to begin?

Start a focused and serious campaign with you, to sway you to the affirmative aisle of self-acceptance.

Listen, life can be a fucking shit-show. We each carry bags, sealed tight to the outside world, that if accidentally opened, would reveal our gaping gory wounds.

The magical secret is we’re all in this together – ain’t no one getting out alive.

We’re all wounded and trying to keep it hidden from ever’one.

Maybe you feel no one understands (we do). Or, your situation is unique (meh). Or, that you carry the nastiest bag in the world and if anyone caught a glimpse, they’d run and wouldn’t like you either (yeah, okay…no).

In this case, you’re not so special. You’re one of us.

Maybe you were never allowed to fully grieve the events you faced. Or maybe you thought it weak to do so. Or maybe all-the-whatevers here.

It’s time to take the trash out, y’all.

I’m gonna tell you what works for me when I’m cut by life’s rusty kitchen knife.

Before I do, I want to assure you I have a buttload of issues too.

While loving who I am has never ever been one of them, I’m just like you when it comes to wanting to work things out and move forward.

Life is dirty and bloody and needs a daily throat-punch, but there are ways to overcome whatever you face.

How do I know?

Because I have, that’s how.

I wish a simple STOP IT! would help, but I’ve seen enough to know it won’t.

How can you let your light shine when you don’t believe it’s worthy of the warmth it offers?

Give yourself permission to do whatever it takes to start believing.

If it means sharing your burden with friends – share it.

If it means crying in the chip aisle in a grocery store (done it) – cry in the aisle.

If it means long walks contemplating the whys and hows of where you find yourself – get to walking.

If it means talking to a therapist, sharing in a sacred circle or laying things out to your dog – start talking.

If it means dropping to your knees to pray for guidance – stop, drop and pray.

If it means simply telling yourself that you may not believe it now, but you’re gonna (even if this feels like a lie) – tell yourself.

This method has three simple steps:

#1: You must start.

#2: You must be brutally honest with yourself.

#3: There is no timeline for completion.

NONE.

There’s no: in a week, month or year, business.

You pull on your wading boots and get into the pit. Stay there till the job is done.

Here’s the life-affirming fairy dust: once you take control of a shitty situation, even in the smallest of ways, life starts to react.

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction: Newton’s Third Law of Motion. It’s SCIENCE!

Step One: You enter the tunnel of hell, you fight your fucking demons, then suddenly, one unexpected day, there it is – a glimmer of light – YOUR LIGHT!

The key to flipping the situation on its arse, to any issue really, is to start the hard work.

Step Two: No lies.

No being pretend-kind to yourself by softening the truth of what needs to be changed. That will only serve to stall your progress.

Acknowledge your responsibility in the situation and how you have allowed yourself to avoid facing the hard bits in your life.

Look yourself in the mirror.

Promise yourself that you’re going to do the best you can by you.

Remind yourself that you’re the only person who can change you, and that you will see the process through, no matter how messy or uncomfortable it gets.

Step Three: Keep working towards resolution until, well, you think you’re as swell as we do!

It’s that simple and gut-wrenchingly difficult.

You can turn things around. You can go from being neck-deep in the blackest pit, to a new day of embracing the light only you can shine.

 

YOU CAN.

Now get to the work. Your best days await.

♫…let it shine, let it shine, let it shine! ♫

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April J Harris

Monday 11th of February 2019

Wonderful, inspiring post!! Thank you so much for sharing this positive, uplifting advice with the Hearth and Soul Link Party. Hope to see you again this week!

Claire Saul

Wednesday 6th of February 2019

Feeling like I've been both cut by life's rusty kitchen knife and hit by its muddy sledgehammer! Bad night with a chronic health problem....But I love this!! Your humour is just great and you really made me think - and yes, on the whole I do like who I am. Not perfect by any means, but then who is, right?! Your words should be plastered all over instagram and all the platforms teens use - the rise in teen anxiety, depression and suicide is scary and they all need a reminder how to like themselves....and to understand that the pics they see are not real life (a whole different post there!). Anyway hope you don’t mind but I have shared this on my PainPalsBlog regular feature “Monday Magic – Inspiring Blogs for You!”, Claire x

Patti Tucker

Wednesday 6th of February 2019

Claire - I'm so sorry for your health issues, but am thankful for your lovely words (and sharing of my post). I pray your bad nights are less and less and your good days multiplied.

Christie Hawkes

Tuesday 5th of February 2019

Absolutely Patti! I was a little bit surprised to realize I can answer this question with a resounding "Yes!" I do like myself. That has not always been the case. I'm not perfect, but who is? I don't require my family, my friends, or my coworkers to be perfect before I like them. Yeah for me! And yeah for you for writing this post. Have a fabulous day!

Patti Tucker

Tuesday 5th of February 2019

Woot! Love your comment!

Mcihelle Sepulveda

Friday 1st of February 2019

I said: What about my eyes? He said: Keep them on the road. I said: What about my passion? He said: Keep it burning. I said: What about my heart? He said: Tell me what you hold inside it? I said: Pain and Sorrow. He said: Stay with it. The wound is the place where the Light enters you. Rumi LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE! LOVE this piece. Fight for your freedom to be all that your are destined to be! Never allow others or circumstance to rob you of your true beauty and identity!

Christie Hawkes

Tuesday 5th of February 2019

Love this Michelle.

Patti Tucker

Saturday 2nd of February 2019

YEs, yes, yes - all all. Beautiful.

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