Be courageous

Self-image - it is the mental picture we have of ourselves, and it can either be negative or positive. How we see ourselves matters and it influences how we interact with the world around us. It also influences our thoughts and the choices we make and develops over the years. Growing up I had a low sense of self, I believed everything people said I was, most of these things were not empowering and I struggled to receive positive compliments because in my mind I had a negative self-image, looking at myself in the mirror was hard, I would criticize myself and didn't love the person I was seeing in the mirror. This negative self-image was impacting my life in a negative way, I didn't see myself as someone who was capable of achieving any goal, I was only focusing on my weaknesses, and I didn't think I had any strengths or talents. I became my worst enemy and it was showing up in all areas of my life, I was not able to build a career, I was getting stuck in toxic relationships,...

It can be easy to forgive someone who has wronged you, the challenge comes when we have to forgive ourselves, we find it hard to let go of our past mistakes, we struggle to show the same compassion we would show to a loved one, we beat ourselves up and get stuck in the circle of  negative emotions, anger, resentment, shame and guilt takes over and everyday life starts to feel less fulfilling.  I struggled with forgiving myself for a long time, I didn't feel like I deserved the forgiveness. When I started my self-discovery journey, I noticed that I was holding on to my past mistakes and some of these mistakes I was still repeating them because I was not giving myself permission to reflect, let go and learn from them. I had to learn to forgive myself and take responsibility for my past behavior, and I was reminded that I have a choice in every situation I find myself into, I should stop living like a victim. This was a wakeup call, I had to understand that the choices I am makin...

Self-respect is when we stay true to ourselves and our values, loving who we are and not putting ourselves in situations that are not aligned with our values. When we respect ourselves, we understand that we are unique therefore there is no need to compare ourselves to others and we are not depending on external validation. We are able to set healthy boundaries and prioritize our own needs. Self-respect helps us to build self-trust and that makes us to feel good about ourselves. We teach people how they should treat us; people can tell whether you are someone who respect yourself on not, and how you treat yourself and others says it all.  Importance of self-respect Speak up for yourself - In the past I struggled with speaking up for myself because of being a people pleaser, I didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, I felt like people were taking advantage of me and it was making me miserable because I was always suppressing my feelings and I had a low self-respect. I learned to ...