In order to have hope in desperate times, we have to start with taking a good look in the mirror. The first thing it's important to do there is appreciate and show gratitude for all that you are and are not. There is only one you on the entire planet. You are the only one who can bring your unique awesome and awkward to the world.
In the first post of this series, I touched briefly on taking the time to get to know, love, and respect yourself. But it's a much more in-depth process than a few minutes can contain.
The Self Habit
I call this Habit Self in The Hart Habits, and the goal of this Habit is to get to a place where we understand the exquisite and unique being we are, while also understanding that everything in our experience comes through our body for interpretation, translation, and understanding. As much as we like to believe there are objective truths, almost everything we believe is subject to our self.
The very first step in appreciating this truth is to appreciate your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual body. The one that keeps you living in this existence every day. No matter if it is skinny, fat, healthy, ill, tall, short, socially pleasing, or freakishly cool, it is yours, and it houses your soul and spirit. That makes it awesome. Period.
Not only does that make it awesome, but it also makes it worthy of gratitude, grace, compassion, love, acceptance, abundance, and all the other good things you can imagine.
The Mirror Exercise
One simple exercise I do, and share with clients, is to spend time in the mirror, looking at yourself and giving yourself, your cells, all those things I mentioned above: gratitude, grace, compassion, love, acceptance, praise, abundance, and more.
I share this first because it's a necessary tool to help you keep going through all the other difficult work that comes in developing more hope.
Trust me, you are going to have moments of resistance to what I'm going to share next and throughout the series. You may feel shame or ashamed of yourself or people you love. You might even think I want you to feel bad about yourself.
I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth.
Sometimes we have to move muck to find treasure. And we can't move muck if we won't look at it.
As a gardener, I understand the value of muck. It's the literal animal waste we use to help our plants and veggies grow strong and gorgeous. Adding it in is the organic way to make our food taste the most delicious. Isn't that funny?
As humans in connection with other humans and a whole universe of other molecules, our muck can create growth, not only for ourselves but for our whole community.
So take the time to learn about all the greatness that is you, so you'll remember it well when you start seeing the muck.
Look in the mirror and give yourself love.
Tools to Get to Know Yourself Better
Learn about your strengths with the Clifton Strengthsfinder. Recognize your character strengths with VIA. Find out everything about yourself that is unique and lovely, or dank and smelly, and seek ways to express gratitude for those things about yourself.
Talk soon. I love you.
Question of the day: How do you get to know and love yourself better?