We’re taking a pause in the getting to know yourself series for the following public service announcement:
You are worthy.
Do you get me? Let me repeat myself:
You. Are. Worthy.
Yes, I’m talking to you.
Let me put this in some other common vernacular:
You are enough. You are valuable. You are deserving of love.
The sooner you come to believe that you are worthy, my dear, the better off you’ll be in this life. But I know this is easier said than done.
I had trouble accepting my worth for years. You too may have had people in your life who told you (or made you feel as though) you were not as worthy as someone else. But, regardless of past experiences, we each must come to a place where we truly, deeply believe we are worthy.
You might be wondering: What does being worthy even mean? Merriam-Webster defines worthy as “good and deserving respect, praise, or attention.” Yes, you are all of that.
To further break down the concept, Dictionary.com defines worth as “usefulness or importance, as to the world, to a person, or for a purpose” as in “Your worth to the world is inestimable.” So true.
By the simple virtue of your being alive, you are worthy. You are made (literally!) from the same materials as the moon and stars, and your worth truly is immeasurable.
When I say these things, I don’t mean to imply that you’re better than anyone else. You aren’t. But you are equal, and you are worthy. And that means you’re deserving of respect, love, and a sense of belonging.
Believing otherwise will never serve you. I’m not saying this to make you feel worse if you struggle with self-love. However, the bottom line is that you simply must get to a place where you believe you are as valuable as everyone else. Until you do, you will never be able to achieve all that you’re capable of or live the life you want to live.
When I began my journey toward self-acceptance—more than a decade ago now—I turned to motivational author, speaker, and teacher Louise Hay. In the beginning, I couldn’t say her affirmations with a straight face; I just didn’t believe them. It also took me years to finish reading her seminal work, You Can Heal Your Life.
When I thought about my journey to self-love and belief in my worth, I wanted to share with you one of Louise’s writings that I had printed out and posted on my bedroom mirror back in the early 2000s. As I looked for its citation, I came to realize that what follows must be my adaptation of Louise’s work rather than a direct quote. After all, Louise would have written everything in the present tense, but this is what I was capable of reading and accepting back then:
“I love myself; therefore, I will treat myself with loving kindness.
I love myself; therefore, I will express only positive thoughts about myself.
I love myself; therefore, I will trust the process of my past in preparing me for my future.
I love myself; therefore, I will shine my love for others and allow them to shine their love back to me.
I love myself; therefore, I will trust my body and release myself to the best I can be and it can be.
I love myself; therefore, I will be calm and guilt free.”
Although I now realize it cannot be a direct quote from Louise, I’m going to go ahead and attribute it to her because she was my first self-love teacher, it is based on her teachings, and she is still a significant influence.
Because I found this quote to be so helpful in my own journey, I decided to make a downloadable printable of it for you. It’s a PDF; if you like it, click the link above or the photo below to download and print, save, or share.
Over time, I adopted another adaption from Louise Hay’s affirmations, “I love and approve of myself just as I am.” To this day, I write that phrase along with a few other affirmations at the close of my daily morning pages.
During this process, I was also helped by thinking in terms of “no better and no worse.” None of us is inherently better or worse than any other living creature. Learning self-acceptance in that way, I’ve found, helps extend your circle of compassion to all beings. Sometimes it may be easier to be compassionate toward others than toward yourself. Extending your circle of compassion in any way you can is invaluable.
And remember, this is a journey. Some days will be better than others. You may begin to believe in your value only to have a major setback. I’ve been there. Keep moving forward. Keep the faith. There is no reason to believe that you are less than anyone else alive and every reason to support yourself into self-acceptance.
You are worthy. I hope these tips for embracing your worth and the printable prove helpful to you. If you have any questions about the process of embracing your worth, shout out in the comments.
When you get to a place where you understand that love and belonging, your worthiness, is a birthright and not something you have to earn, anything is possible. – Brene Brown
Cheers,
For part five of the getting to know yourself series, click here.
