I’m currently facilitating a 30 day self-love challenge.  One of our assignments was to make a list of at least 30 reasons you love yourself.  Depending on how difficult this was, you could do more, if you chose.  This stemmed from an assignment I’d done when exploring Rhonda Britten’s Fearless Living work over 10 years ago as well as a post I wrote here about loving someone else.  I think it’s an incredibly powerful tool to connect to how wonderful we truly are and see that good inside of us…not only see it but embrace it.  Here is my list:

1. I’m caring – I care very much for others and fully believe that if someone is hurting, we all hurt.
2. I appreciate the differences in others – I truly see you as an individual and love what makes you different from me as much as I love what connects us all.
3. I’m loyal – I am very loyal to those I care about and would do just about anything for them.
4. My eyes – While I don’t see the intensity that others sometimes talk about, I love the color of my eyes and I love to make eye contact with others.  I truly believe our eyes are the window to our soul.
5. My technical skills – Technology comes pretty easy to me and I enjoy it.
6. My willingness to look at my shit and address it – I am aware of my choices, positive and negative, and how they impact my life as well as those around me.  Personal growth is hard and I never shy away from addressing something when it comes up.  I know I am always better off for choosing to grow.
7. Strategic – I am a strategic thinker and it’s very easy to me to assess a situation and come up with the best possible solutions with the information I have.  I love doing this and I love that it’s how my brain works.
8. I’m a life-long learner – I love to learn and will never stop.
9. My sponge-like quality – I absorb information easily.
10. My willingness to share that information – All that I absorb…I love sharing that with others.  I am often called the go-to gal and that touches me deeply.  I love it when people come to me for information and support.
11. I see your strength – Although people come to me for information and support, I see the strength we all have inside to do our own work and to grow as a person and I believe you can do whatever you set your mind to do.  I am a catalyst in many ways…just a tool to help move you forward on your journey.
12. Ideation – That’s what it’s referred to in the Strengthsfinder assessment tool.  I have a brain full of ideas that never stop.  Sometimes it’s overwhelming and I used to wish I could just shut it off until a dear friend asked me if that’s really what I wanted and when I paused and thought about how my life would look without this gift (which it truly is), it felt empty and sad.  I love being able to brainstorm and get excited about different things.
13. I’m giving – I am willing to share my knowledge, my skills, my resources with those around me.
14. Cooking – I think I’m a pretty good cook and it’s something I really enjoy.
15. My love of nature – I feel connected to nature in a very intimate way.
16. My creativity – I have many creative loves…painting, sewing, designing that I do for my work, cooking, problem solving…and I think I’m pretty good at most creative outlets.
17. Productivity – I get a ton of shit done.  I am a hard worker and I’m able to accomplish a lot in a short period of time.
18. I love the simple pleasures of life – I really see these and recognize their value.  If we only wait for the big stuff to happen and enjoy, it just doesn’t happen enough to create a fulfilling life.  I am able to see all the little things around me and how important they are in my life.  One of my favorite phrases is “just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, it did!!” and it’s always about something little and sometimes something silly that makes me smile and enjoy life just a little more every day.
19. Passionate – I’m really passionate about life and about engaging in life fully.  I don’t want to stand and watch the world and all its goodness pass me by.
20. I see the good – I truly see the good in the world and in people.  Not with rose-colored glasses but in a real way.  I know there is both good and not so good…I just choose to focus on the good.
21. I’m a realist – While I definitely see the good, as I said above, I also see the not so good.  When something is in my life that isn’t so good, I can let it go…the shit of other people does not have to become my shit and sometimes things never change.  I want to be treated well and be around people who are kind and loving and I feel connected to.
22. Personal responsibility is a core value – I am always willing to take responsibility for my choices, my actions and my life as a whole.
23. Integrity – I gauge my entire life and the choices I make by this…”I am a woman of integrity…how would a woman of integrity handle this…what would a woman of integrity do?”
24. Grill Master – maybe this ties to the cooking thing but I think learning how to cook well on a grill is a different thing all together.  I love doing this and have gotten pretty good at knowing how to cook meat well AND do other things…veggies, desserts, etc. and I really enjoy it.
25. Willing to Try – I am game to try just about anything.  If it doesn’t work out, oh well.  I love experiencing new things.
26. Make my Own Judgments – I don’t really care what someone else says about someone or something, I make my own assessments and decisions.  I may ask for information but, in the end, my decisions are always based on my own experiences.
27. I love knowing what makes you tick and I honor that – I know, for example, my husband really values hearing that I appreciate what he does for me and that’s how he knows I love him.  It’s not super important to me to hear that (although it’s very nice) so it’s a different way to communicate my feelings of love.  I do it because it means so much to him.  I am mindful of what others need and do my best to incorporate that into our relationship.
28. Presence – I love spending time being fully present.  With nature, with people, when I cook, just sitting outside, riding my bike, etc…whatever it is, I love to be fully present and soak in the experience.
29. Perspective – I am willing to look at things from a different perspective when needed and I am able to help others have a different perspective as well.
30. I won’t ask you to do something I wouldn’t do or haven’t already done myself – Even when I worked a W2 job, there was nothing I would ask of one of my employees that I hadn’t done myself or wasn’t willing to do myself and that crosses over into every aspect of my life.

You can bet that, I will be looking back at this list time and time again.  The power of seeing all the good inside of us is life-changing.  There is so much of it…we just have to be willing to look at it and truly see it all.

Have you written your list?  Anything on there that would surprise me to discover?  Write your list and share with others here.