Lovely Links: A Declaration of Self-Esteem

source

I recently stumbled upon a lovely blog called ....But I Love Me More.  I knew right away from the name of the blog that it would be right up my alley.  The writer behind the blog is Nova Browning Rutherford and she's a motivational speaker, national radio personality, author, mentor, and activist. 

Her mission statement is as follows:

"...but i love me more" means making a choice to love yourself, as you are, before anything else. It's also forum to share stories and the realization that past pain CAN propel our future progress!

She had me at hello!  I get so excited when I come across another black woman with a passion for encouraging people (particularly other women) to overcome their insecurities and struggles and be free to live their best lives.  Learning to accept our mistakes and our hard times with a graceful attitude is what gives us the awareness to make those things count for something.  I love that she shares real life experiences because for me, that's what really brings the message home.   We all go through things, so why not learn from each other? 

So as I was perusing her blog and eating it up, I came across this post: A Declaration of Self-Esteem.  Nova says that she found this declaration on the refrigerator of her husband's grandmother.   I knew that our PLPT readers would feel empowered by it just like I did. You will want to print this out and post it up somewhere where you can read it everyday to affirm that you do indeed love yourself and value yourself more than anything else.   Enjoy. 

I am me.

In all the world, there is no one else exactly like me.

There are persons who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me. Therefore, everything that comes out of me is authentically mine because I alone chose it.

I own everything about me-my body, including everything it does; my mind, including all its thoughts and ideas; my eyes, including the images of all they behold; my feelings, whatever they may be – anger, joy, frustration, love, disappointment, excitement; my mouth, and all the words that come out of it, polite, sweet or rough, correct or incorrect; my voice, loud or soft; and all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself.

I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears.

I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.

Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me. By so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts. I can then make it possible for all of me to work in my best interests.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know. But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for the solutions to the puzzles and for ways to find out more about me.

However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time is me. This is authentic and represents where I am at that moment in time.

When I review later how I looked and sounded, what i said and did, and how I thought and felt, some parts may turn out to be unfitting. I can discard that which is unfitting and keep that which proved fitting, and invent something new for that which I discarded.

I can see, hear, feel, think, say and do. I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, and to make sense and order out of the world of people and things outside of me.

I own me, and therefore I can engineer me.

I am me and I am okay.

~Virginia Satir

Check out Nova's blog for more self-lovin' goodness!