10 Affirmations to Raise Your Self Esteem

    The journey of loving yourself is a never ending route. Self love is the most rewarding gift you can give to yourself. To truly love and accept all of your flaws is the biggest power move; but how do you even get there and what does it look like? For starters, it is more than just loving your physical self and how you look. It is about cultivating a healthy relationship with your actions and thoughts. It is also about respecting your boundaries and learning to assert yourself in a way that you don’t put up with other people’s insecurities. Self esteem is defined as your opinion of yourself. To have a positive opinion of yourself is to have a high or healthy self esteem and to have a negative opinion of yourself is to have a low self esteem. Our self esteem is a never ending continuum and it fluctuates as we experience life and better understand ourselves. Low self esteem can often stem back to childhood. Around the ages of 7 and 8 your subconscious is being fully formed meaning that your environment and the words spoken to you up to and during that time has a lasting effect on your perception of the world and yourself. When you become an adult or just more aware it is important to take time to unlearn the things you’ve been taught and challenge those beliefs. While some values remain true to you, others won’t and will need to be replaced by principles you align with. It is also important to unlearn what you think about yourself. We hear various opinions from those around us that it has a way of shaping our perspective of ourselves. More often than not, those negative opinions are what sticks with us most which can lead to a low self esteem. The problem is those opinions are based on how that person views the world, not how you view it. In turn, that makes their opinion essentially irrelevant to your life because it has nothing to do with your perspective. The truth of the matter is, no one is thinking about you as much as you are. Life is a series of events and everyone is worried about their own mistakes. We are meant to make mistakes that is the only way you grow and know better. So when you accept everything for what it is you can manage and deal with whatever life throws at you in a more healthy manner. To challenge those beliefs you need to face them head on. Note whatever negative thoughts you have about yourself and stop and question:

• Why do I believe that? 
• Who told me that? 
• Why do I hold weight to that person’s view of me? 
• Is this truly how I see myself? 
• Is this how I WANT to see myself?

Usually the answer to that last question is no. By feeding your mind with positivity and being kind to yourself, you can reverse that way of thinking. 

  Personally, I raised my self esteem through journaling and affirmations. Affirmations are encouraging statements used to declare something as a fact. I started off by putting affirmations in places I would see often; I changed my lock screens and watch face and I put notes where I would get ready in the morning. Seeing those reminders frequently allowed me to train my mind to think optimistically about myself, which lead to thinking more optimistically about others thus expanding my compassion for everything. It was also imperative for me to forgive myself for not knowing better. When you have a low self esteem you can be so hard on yourself for mistakes you’ve made in the past or for putting up with something you know you shouldn’t have. Everything genuinely happens for a reason and there are no coincidences. Instead of thinking about how things could’ve been different if you made a better choice focus on how without that situation you wouldn’t have found the courage to love all of yourself. Every moment in life has lead you to this place. You are reading this blog for a reason and whether you resonate with a high or low self esteem these affirmations can be a positive addition to your life. Make them your lock screen, recite often, and watch your self esteem rise. The more you speak love, the more you embody love and you should know that you are nothing less than divine.

I need to search no longer, for I have found who I am. I am the person I’ve been waiting for. I do not seek approval from outside sources because nobody can validate my existence. 

Like a mountain, I do not apologize for my vast expansiveness. I take up space and convey myself unapologetically. I accept who I am at my core. I’m grateful for everything that makes me who I am. 

This body holds my experience and has supported me since the day I was born. I am grateful for this body and cherish it in every single way. 

I am complete, whole and perfect just as I am. I am enough.

I let go of any expectations I hold for myself and assume that others hold for me. I show up exactly how I am and exactly how I am is unique, divine and perfectly me.

I let my love for myself increase each day. I will not be reduced.

I don’t compare myself or worry about the opinions of others. I attract people in my life who appreciate my originality.

There is no need to be so hard on myself. I am the oldest that I've ever been and have more knowledge than before. With that knowledge, I make choices to the best of my ability and continue to learn and grow.

I am perfect because I was crafted in the eye of perfection.

I am proud of the work I put into loving myself.

You are beautiful and you are loved. I am so proud of you for putting yourself first. Please comment below your favorite affirmation from above or one that you enjoy saying to yourself. Peace, love, and enjoy your magical life. 

-SMB

__________________________________________________________________________

Rensburg, M. V. (2017, March 18). A Child's Subconscious Mind: How Parents Can Hurt or Help Their Kids. Retrieved August 16, 2020, from https://www.medianet.com.au/releases/128343/