Know Your Self Worth

February is all about LOVE. While some people look to validate how lovable they are by how they are treated over Valentines Day… I am often reminded that love starts within.  

We have to be reminded to love ourselves, so we can love others.

Remember that you are deserving of love and care, especially from yourself. Practicing self-love can make a huge difference in your overall happiness and well-being. Take time to do things that make you happy, surround yourself with positive people and thoughts, and don't be too hard on yourself. You are amazing just the way you are.

Never forget that you are enough and that you deserve all the love and happiness in the world. Keep shining, and keep spreading your light to those around you.

I was thinking what should I call this practice. Self Acceptance came to my mind, but I already did a Manifestation Box around that theme last February. Self Worth is what I decided to call this year’s box. But ultimately, it is a lesson on learning to love ourselves as we are and not to look outward for that validation, that indeed we are lovable – measured by the size of a diamond ring.

"You know, many people in this industry don't like you; they told me they consider you unapproachable; it's tough to work with you."

I am sitting at dinner with what I consider my best friend and, equally, the person I am trying to build a business idea with.

We are taking a small break from the last conference we attended together to launch our concept, and the words hit me as hard as a punch. We are in Bali, the shortest place to travel to from our conference in Singapore, and my world collapses around me.

I trust this person, think she is fantastic, and strive to be like her. Her words stop me in my tracks; they make me revisit everything I have ever done, although I have been established in the same industry for nearly two decades.

I spend the night awake, and a dear friend of mine catches me with a quick, "how's the trip going?" and instead spends more than four hours texting with me about all the self-doubt that cascaded around me.

With his years of wisdom, he brings me back to reality and how these words affect me because of the value, I am giving to this "friend." The fact is that I know who I am, my good and my bad aspects. Through the years, I have tried to conceal or eliminate my flaws. I have tried to change who I am because I learned early that we should eliminate the bad and keep only the good. I have fought my nature because it's not correct and instead exasperated the issues.

My friend points out how I have allegedly failed at it, according to her. In our society, we tend to deny the concept of self-acceptance and promote the absence of negative traits.

Self-acceptance and ultimately, Self Love means profoundly and totally accepting every aspect of ourselves. Unconditionally and without exception. To achieve self-acceptance and master the love toward ourselves, we must learn to accept the parts of ourselves we consider negative or undesirable.

Interestingly, when we do that, those parts tend to balance out with everything we find positive about ourselves and seem to sit more in the background.

Self-acceptance makes us less vulnerable to criticism. "I am who I am" is not a statement to avoid working on who we are and how we behave; it means accepting that certain aspects of us cannot be denied or changed. We are not someone else. External negative influences and judgment affect our self-esteem, but with understanding, we can build the correct view of ourselves and our worth and learn self-acceptance.

Here are three positive actions I learned we can take to increase our level of self-acceptance:

-         Be kind to ourselves as we are to others.

-         See our mistakes as opportunities to learn. We learn to judge our failures harshly to avoid repeating them, but doing that might prevent us from trying again for fear.

-         Notice things we do well, however small it is.

We are, at times, our worst critics and our enemies. Self-acceptance means that we embrace our entire being. That includes our flaws as well as our successes. It means we are at peace with our failures and accomplishments.

When we accept ourselves fully, we recognize that we are multifaceted human beings. We will face challenges with serenity because we will realize it's not representative of our entire life.

Once you can accept yourself as you are, you can start appreciating everything positive about yourself.

Lastly, I want to tell you something my grandpa used to say: “The only people who are not making mistakes are those who do nothing in life.”

For the February Manifestation Box I prepared you tools and the best crystals to help build up your self confidence, accept yourself as you are, scars and flaws included/ And after all. I hope you realize your self-worth. How awesome, one of a kind gem you are. YOU ARE SPECIAL. I hope you know it.

Stay strong, stay positive! Love, Szilvia