52 Weeks to Falling in Love with YOU

Growing up Life is hard.

And I mean, like really hard. Social media, school and grades, jobs, shitty friendships, dates, boyfriends/ girlfriends… need I say more? On top of that, we’re constantly bombarded with unrealistic, photoshopped expectations of what our lives should look like. We’re being manipulated into doubting our own abilities before we even try. Presented with these fake, edited lives, we should “aspire to mimic”; completely overlooking the 10 filters applied, 5 lighting changes and previous 20 shots that didn’t make the cut, because they just. Weren’t. ‘Perfect. Enough’. No. We just get the one ‘perfect’ picture that makes us question our own self worth and value. Basically make us feel like shit.. am I right?

How many times do you scroll through Instagram or Facebook and when you finally get off the app you feel like crap because your life isn’t ‘insta perfect’?

We look at these unrealistic expectations that social media promotes as ‘the norm’; with a waist smaller than an A4 and a thigh gap the size of a tennis ball and then we hate ourselves for not looking like the models we see in magazines and billboards (who in fact, don’t even look like themselves).

We allow people to manipulate what we perceive as beautiful and worthy.

Unknown

So here’s some background about why I started the #LovingYOU series:

One Christmas, I found myself giving advice to my 13 year old (at the time) cousin, about self-worth, appreciation and boys?! See, she was telling me how she hides from boys when she’s not wearing makeup, because she’s not one of the ‘skinny girls’, or ‘the pretty ones’. My blood boiled. I told her to never speak like that about herself. I told her she shouldn’t let others belittle her; that she’s perfect and beautiful and talented and waaaay to young to be worrying about how she looks without make up. And as I was telling her how important it is to love yourself… I realised I should be having this conversation with myself.

How many of us are excellence advice givers but awful at listening to the words we say?

I know I’m not the only one. We tend to focus on our flaws, failing to acknowledge how amazing each and everyone of us truly is. And so I think it’s time to become our own best friend and not the enemy…

I did my research and by looking at different articles on Pinterest (you gotta love Pinterest), I’ve come up a list of 52 questions (one a week). This might not work for everyone and not all of the questions might spring an automatic answer, and that’s totally okay. Give yourself a chance to stick with it, think about your answer and you’ll see how much this can put things into perspective.

P.S. The first time I did this, I posted each week – this time however, I won’t be posting all my answers, just the ones I feel like sharing.

So here’s my..

52 weeks to falling in love with ‘YOU’…

1. Write an “About Me” about yourself.
2. A list of things you’re thankful for.
3. Small things that make you happy.
4. Reflect on one of the greatest life lessons you’ve ever learned. What was it and what did you learn? How can you incorporate it into your life today?
5. The best thing that happened to you this week.
6. Something you want to change about yourself.
7. Something you could do right now to get you closer to where you want to be in life.
8. Write a letter to your body. This can be a love letter or a letter apologising.
9. A skill you want to learn.
10. Your favorite quote right now.
11. Something that you think holds you back.
12. A word that actually describes your life, and a word you wish described your life.
13. Someone you admire and why you admire them.
14. Something you’re stressed about.
15. Something that’s been making you laugh lately.
16. The happiest moment in your week so far.
17. Write a letter to teenage you.
18. What you like the most about yourself.
19. The one dream you have that you just can’t stop thinking about.
20. The biggest way you’ve changed in the past year.
21. The last bad day you had.
22. The place you currently call home.
23. Your best quality.
24. The last time you tried something new.
25. Three rules you try to live by.
26. Your family.
27. Your bucket list.
28. 5 big goals you have for your life.
29. The last person you said, “I love you” to.
30. A list of things you love about this season of your life.
31. What is your treasured possession and why?
32. How you’ve been spending your free time lately.
33. A list of your favourite books and why you love them.
34. How would you like to be remembered once you’re gone?
35. Something you’re scared of.
36. Your dream job.
37. Something you’re really good at.
38. Your bad habits.
39. A tradition you want to have with your own family.
40. Sum up what you believe in on one page.
41. Write about your zodiac sign, whether or not it suits you.
42. Describe your day in 5 words.
43. Something you always think “what if..” about.
44. Where you hope to be in five years.
45. What you think you would be doing with your life if money didn’t matter.
46. Write a letter to your future self.
47. Something you’re really proud of.
48. Your favorite way to relax.
49. One way you’d like to grow in the next year.
50. Your favorite way to spend a Friday.
51. A project you’re working on.
52. How you think you’re making the world a better place.

Give it a go and let me know how you get on x