What I Love (About Myself)

I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I've been having a very negative self image week. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the fact that I'm exhausted. Maybe it's because we haven't seen the sun in two weeks. Maybe it's a mixture of a bazillion things I will never figure out. Whatever it is, I havent been very nice to myself this week.

I had a realization during my 5 mile run this afternoon that I needed to snap out of it. There's something about running endorphins that really help the soul.

I decided that I need to focus on the positive aspects of myself. In this society, it's almost shameful for us to say nice things about ourselves. I get really self conscious when I get a compliment but when someone points out something I know is a weakness, it just confirms it for me. I even feel really awkward about writing this post. Is everyone who reads going to think I'm just super into myself? Absolutely not, but it's how my mind works.

I think we could all focus on our positive aspects more because we all have some amazing, unique qualities and beautiful parts of our bodies. Here are a few of my favorite parts about myself.

1. My eyes- I get more compliments on my eyes than anything else. They look brown from far away, but they're actually hazel. Anyone can read my emotions in my eyes, and while that can be a negative thing, I think it's mostly positive, because they keep me honest.

2. My hair- I have learned to love my hair in its natural state. I used to straighten it every day to try to get it less frizzy, but one day I wore it completely natural due to laziness and I got more compliments on it than I ever had before. It's wavy, thick, and long. I love it.

3. I'm kindhearted- I try to be as nice to everyone as I possibly can. This stems from my great fear of confrontation, but I also like giving people te benefit of the doubt. We are all human and we deserve to be treated like it. When someone is rude to me, I assume it's because of something personal that happened to them that day or week, so I continue to be nice.

4. I'm stubborn- While this could also be a negative aspect about myself, I tend to view it as a positive. It's my stubbornness that gets me through a difficult workout. It's my stubbornness that doesn't allow me to give up even when I really, desperately want to. Thank goodness I'm stubborn, otherwise, I probably wouldn't be as far into my education as I am.

5. My legs- I love my legs. I always have. They are the one part of my body that I have loved through and through. They are strong. They lead me through my life even though I put them through a beating every single day. They get me through long runs, they push me back up when I squat down with many pounds on my back, and they hike me up mountains. I couldn't be more thankful for my legs.

Tell me something, anything, that you love about yourself.