How to Love Yourself, Flaws and All

November 10, 2018 / Angie / 1 comment

Awhile back, Angie Weihs @theagelessrebellion on Instagram posted a pink heart, saying “Love yourself. Without your flaws, you wouldn’t be you.”

My comment on that was, “Flaws are the flip side of our good points. So just flip your thinking…”

This can also help you to become happier. In “How to Be Happy Every Day,” I wrote about flipping the switch:

“Flip the switch” from negative thinking to positivity. Start the day by taking some deep breaths and being positive and grateful for ten minutes. Focus on the good things in life (and about yourself). It will not only benefit you but also those around you.

Age doesn’t matter. It’s never too late to forgive and appreciate your true self. Remember to be nice to yourself every day.

Recently, I had just bought groceries at Costco and then realized that I had forgotten my favorite Sanders Dark Chocolate Sea Salt Caramels. 😮 When I went back to get them, I stopped at the flower stand and picked up a bouquet. While standing in line again, the lady in front of me with an overflowing cart said, “Is that all you have? Why don’t you go in front of me!” I thanked her and then noticed that I was standing there holding flowers and chocolate. I laughed and said, “Do you think I’m being nice enough to myself?!” She said, “Well, you could have gotten a bottle of wine while you were at it!” And I told her, “I already got that on my first trip through the line. Look at my cart over there!”

Did you ever hear that the things you love the most about the person you married are the very things that irritate you the most once you are living with them long enough? For instance, you may love that your partner works hard and makes good money and then later you may resent how much time he spends on it.

When I took Systematic Training for Effective Parenting classes as I was bringing up my children, one of the first things we were asked to do was write a list. For a child who may be driving you crazy, STEP facilitators ask parents to write a list of all the good things about their child and focus on that. Guess what? Often, the children’s best qualities were the flip side of the things that were driving their parents crazy. So the parents were able to appreciate them more when they kept the good in mind, instead of getting upset.

This is compassion. And doesn’t our inner child deserve to be treated with compassion as well as everyone else in our world?

If this works for others, it can surely work for ourselves. We can love ourselves despite our flaws, or even because of our flaws. Because if we write a list of what’s best about ourselves, we just might see that the flip side is what our flaws are…and vice versa!

Why don’t you try it and let me know in the comments below? I’d be curious to know what you discover about yourself that you are comfortable sharing!

Angie Weihs has a blog called Rebelle and has published Ageless Rebel planners: Create with Your Soul, and Dance with Your Soul.