Motivation Monday: Self-love

As I get older, I am becoming more comfortable in my skin. But it's a journey. I must admit begrudgingly that I still have moments, days, weeks or even months that I feel insecure, ugly, unsuccessful, socially awkward and/or petty. 

Just today, for example, my hubby surprised me with a trip to the shooting range - something I have been itching to do for years to relive my "army" days. But I found myself feeling upset by the the reflection in the mirror, my nervousness in handling a weapon again and my inability to hit the target. That kind of negative feeling was clouding my fun, and that's just plain stupid. 

So, I thought I would focus today's post on ways to strike a comfort level with oneself. Here are some tips found from a couple trusted sources: tiny Buddha and source of light.

1. Become the real you. Being authentic is your ticket to joy, success, energy, and manifesting your dreams. And you’re not doing this to better serve the world; you’re doing it to better serve you. 
2. Practice self-love. Money, love, health, and romance hinges on your level of self-love. The circumstances of your life provide you an accurate measure of how much you love yourself and what you believe you deserve. 
3. Trust yourself. Stop trying to justify and rationalize your most heartfelt desires. Your desires are the clearest indicator of who you are. Denying them is denying you. No one needs to understand why you want what you want. You don’t even need to understand it yourself. Just trust it, trust yourself, and manifest it. 
4. Take ownership. Taking full responsibility for the life you’ve created for yourself is empowering. But it requires honesty, reflection and openness.
5. Shift your thinking. Most of us, at some level, harbor the same fears, the same tragic self-doubts, and the same profound longings to be liberated from our self-made prisons. If you aren’t living the life you crave, take the steps to discover which of your beliefs are keeping you from it and what you can do about that. 
6. Dream and live. Stop limiting yourself according to what seems practical. Practical goals do not inspire passion to propel you forward. Hurl yourself recklessly to live your dreams.