On Self-gratitude and why you should thank yourself more

When we were younger, we learned the importance of saying “thank you”.  Thank you for the food, thank you for a gift, thank you for a surprise or for a favour but we never really learned about the practice of thanking ourselves. Saying thank you to the one person who is constantly doing things for you. You.

They say that showing gratitude or feeling and showing appreciation in the presence for something or someone is a big way of raising our vibrational frequency. When we show appreciation for the actions of others, especially when it is genuinely felt, we feel it in our body, a rush and a tingling wellbeing. The acknowledgement of the present good that has been bestowed upon us.

One thing I have recently started practising is bestowing that same gratitude on myself throughout my day. Showing my appreciation for cleaning up a mess that now helps me feel like I can breathe easily or finally completing a task that has been bugging me for some time and then being able to finally clear up that mental space. I thank myself for handling a challenging situation in a more constructive way – I thank myself for standing up for myself against limiting and destructive thoughts. I thank myself for cooking bomb-ass food even if I am the only one at the table. I thank myself for the effort I constantly put in my self-growth and self-acceptance journey. I thank myself for the time I take out of my day to pamper myself or to show up for someone I care about. For everyday things like, flossing or brushing my teeth, for making my bed and keeping my room neat, for kicking ass or giving myself a permission to seat one out- All worthy of my appreciation.

Having this amount of gratitude fills up a lot of space that could be wasted on complaining or criticizing or devaluing myself or situations. Most of all, it fills up spaces of the times or moments where I might have felt I had been taken for granted. It also acts as a positive reinforcement that motivates me to do more things I will be appreciative of.  They say that the universe loves an appreciative child and we also know how more light and inspiring it is to be in the presence of someone who has and shows appreciation for even the littlest of things. So why wouldn´t we want to make the person who we spend every waking hour with, exactly that?

This also helps us decrease the amount of validation and appreciation we might expect from others, which can often lead to frustration and disappointment. When we keep our buckets full with thankfulness and self-validation we become less dependent on what others give or don´t give. We see what others give to us as appreciated bonuses rather than our lifeline.

If you are struggling with self-love or worth, this is a great practice to take on, because in doing so, you might actually become more aware of the wonderful things you do for yourself each day. If that doesn´t inspire you to love on yourself a bit more, I don´t know what will. This is also a simple way of reinforcing positive self-awareness rather than the crippling negative self-awareness that many of us suffer from on a daily basis. Aim higher, raise your frequency, by being appreciative of the little things you do each day to keep you going and caring for yourself. You are worthy.

So, here is to us being good to us and blooming wherever life finds us planted