In honor of Inner Beauty Day, I’m sharing a favorite self-care practice of mine, which is taking a strengths-based approach to help build confidence!
In honor of National Inner Beauty Day, I wanted to take some time to share my journey to find my inner beauty and share one of the many self-care practices that I have found helpful in building confidence.
Growing up, I often felt insecure about things I had no control over, like my height.
Though I have come to love my height as I’ve gotten older, I did struggle with feeling like an outcast when I was younger, especially when it came to boys. When you’re young, you can’t see beyond what you’re going through in that present moment. If only I had known that something as trivial as how tall I am doesn’t matter and doesn’t define me as a person, I would have probably had a better time back then!
Whenever I find myself feeling insecure, I sometimes hyper-fixate on appearances and compare myself to beauty standards. But what I have found helpful when I start to compare and despair, is to remind myself of my strengths and to remind myself that I, like every other human, have unique characteristics and qualities and that part of what makes humans so interesting is that we are all made up differently, possessing different strengths, different characteristics, qualities, and traits and that that can’t be taken from us.
So when you find yourself in a slump, remind yourself that no matter what you are down about that you have made it through all of your darkest days which inherently means that you have strengths, that there are qualities about yourself, inner beauty, if you will, that has allowed you to live and get you to where you are at today. This took me until really my early twenties to use this strengths-based approach that I was taught in grad school. In grad school, we learned about the benefits of a strengths-based approach and I was personally able to see how helpful and beneficial it can be even when dealing with a major slump. So, hone in on those and remind yourself of those characteristics and let them shine, baby!
Those inner strengths and qualities could be your determination, or maybe it’s your sense of humor that allows you to connect with others and lift their mood in dark situations, or it’s your intuition that guides you and helps you navigate your personal needs as well as your loved ones, or maybe you have a calming presence that allows you to slow down and enjoy the ride.
Maybe it’s your love for animals and natural empathy that brings lots of love into your life. There are so many qualities that are unique that often get overlooked by the world and maybe even by yourself. But just remember that if you are living and breathing, you are strong, unique and possess qualities that are to be celebrated!
What is a strength of yours that you appreciate? Remind yourself of it today and wake up each day appreciating and celebrating those strengths!