Why I'm Great. Seriously.

I've read in several sources that a good way to help build one's self confidence/self esteem is to create a compliments list. Things that others love about you that you might not see in yourself or that you might so often take for granted about yourself that you don't see them as a big deal. If others recognize you for them and are willing to say them out loud, then why shouldn't you see them in yourself, and be proud of them. I want to clarify that I am not writing this post for anyone but myself. It's not to convince anyone of anything - heck, others were the ones that gave the compliments. It's simply a way for me to be reminded of  those positive attributes about myself that I can't always see.

Yesterday, I took the bold move on Facebook of listing a few qualities that I liked about myself and asking my friends to fill in the rest. I say bold because it could be entirely possible no one would respond, and that certainly wouldn't have the affect of boosting my confidence. Luckily, that's not how it played out. Here are some of the things they said about me (in no particular order other than the one they replied in):

I'm Energetic
I'm a very strong woman
I handle things gracefully (I'm not sure about this, but if they think so, I won't deny it)
I put my heart into everything I do
I'm fun
I'm an animal lover
I have a good heart
I'm compassionate
I'm creative in everything I do
My love of travel is inspirational
I'm fearlessness and courage about caring and sharing
I'm genuine
I'm analytical
I have a great sense of humor
I am a dreamer
I'm extremely committed to my word
Absolute honesty

I literally welled up with tears reading some of these. One of the things that hit me the most was that these didn't all come from my best friends or family (though some certainly did). These are the thoughts of old friends, new friends, casual friends, close friends, all put together. The fact that people that I haven't known all that long can tell me what a good heart I have or how fearless and courageous I am was so amazing to me.

Now, in fairness, there were some traits not added here because (or I hope because) I had already stated them as a few things I liked about myself and asked people not to duplicate. Since it's also important to share what I see as some of my favorite qualities, here were mine: I'm intelligent, I'm unfalteringly loyal, I make people laugh.

I highly suggest this activity to anyone who might need a reminder about why they're great. Keep it somewhere. Print it out and hang it by your desk, your bed, your mirror. Anywhere you're bound to see it. Repeat it to yourself when you feel down or bad about yourself. These are the reasons people love you. Why should you not love yourself for the same reasons?

This picture pretty much sums up how I feel after reading and digesting all of those compliments:

Awesome