Oh Yeah, I’m Cool

Welcome to the I Love Me! Carnival!

This post was written for inclusion in the I Love Me! Carnival hosted by Amy at Anktangle. This carnival is all about love of self, challenging you to lift yourself up, just for being you.

Please read to the bottom to find a list of submissions from the other carnival participants.

The I Love Me! Carnival is a huge challenge for me, and one I’m excited to embrace. When I read Amy’s guidelines, especially where she says, “Be bold! Above all, please be unashamed…,” I thought “Whoopee!, what a great way to work on this. It’s actually the only way. I’m so glad she disallowed shame.”

The big challenge has been to write about what I like without qualifying every single thing; without hedging just in case I can’t actually prove my worth. And I realized that this exact mechanism of undermining my own belief in myself in tiny, insidious ways is really working against all my attempts to manifest success and abundance in this life.

I didn’t know how much I did it until I tried a hundred times to write what I like and appreciate about myself here. Even if I wrote it all out, denials and retractions and all, and then deleted those words… they were still there. Unspoken, but inhibiting the flow of energy I want to live in.

So, one gift of the I Love Me carnival has been this awareness. Now that I know it’s happening, I can practice saying, writing or even just thinking a positive thing about myself and holding it for as long as I can before the negation comes in. I have to breathe into the feeling and learn to accept that maybe I am okay, pretty good, great, perfect just as I am. Eventually, I should be able to let go of that secondary negative all together. Then who knows what might happen!!

Around and around I went, thinking of things I do, things I aim to do or be…. that I now had the perfect opportunity to share in a totally supportive environment. But, nothing felt right. I almost gave up.

And then it came to me… I had taken my 4 year old to Target to get a few things and really just to let her run around in the store and burn off some energy. When we went through the Halloween aisles, she was cracking me up. Everything was a revelation to her, even more than usual. She was so excited and awed by the most mundane things. “Look at this pumpkin! It’s HUGE!!”, “Look at this…. shiny pink thing”, “Oh. My. Gosh! I love this… It’s so pretty, so cute, so scary…” And on and on. And then skipping and laughing and appreciating every moment. As we were walking out, I told her “It’s really fun hanging out with you. I love your enthusiasm for life.” Then I wondered to myself where she got that from. And that’s when it hit me. She got it from ME! I’m like that.

Random, hormonal or stress induced crabbiness aside, of course, I have the ability to choose the bright side or the silver lining and to find a way to be happy. I generally feel a deep sense of happiness and peace. I realized that this one small thing is the core of who I am and it’s what I love about myself. I appreciate everything about my nature that is positive and joyful. It’s my gift and it’s a blessing.

And I know that not everyone is so fortunate. I’ve learned to understand depression and other brain chemistry and emotional issues as I’ve grown and loved people who live with them. I used to say that anyone could simply choose how to feel in any given moment… that it was just as easy to choose happiness as it was to choose to stay in darkness. That’s not true. For some people there is no choice or at least not an easy pathway. Now I’m less “proud” of my ability and reside totally in gratitude.

I hope that I can pass this on to my daughter and that whatever awaits her, whether it’s life’s lessons or challenging brain chemistry, she’ll have a sense of joy and of the “lightness” of life and the ease of loving to draw from.

Thank you for reading this post from the I Love Me! Carnival. Please take some time to read the contributions from the
other carnival participants:

(This list will be updated by the afternoon of October 28th with all the carnival links.)

• The Art of Being Thoughtful – Becky at Old New Legacy likes that she is mostly thoughtful but wants to become more thoughtful. She shares a story that demonstrates that giving gifts doesn’t have to be expensive.
• I love me (and running)! – Sheryl of Little Snowflakes writes about her new love of running and how it has helped her learn to love herself!
• For the Love of Moe – Valerie at Momma in Progress shares her thoughts on a body forever changed, but forever loved.
• Where I Find My Worth – Sarah at Parenting God’s Children shares how finding her worth in worldly things always falls short.
• Oh Yeah, I’m Cool – Tree at Mom Grooves shares her very favorite gift and the thing she most wants to pass on to her daughter.
• Loving – Rosemary at Rosmarinus Officinalis talks about some of the things she loves about herself – some easily, and some by choice for the sake of healing.
• caught in a landslide – jaqbuncad of wakey wakey, eggs and bakey! shares a list of reasons why zie loves hir body.
• I Love Me! – A Rampage of Appreciation! – Terri at Child of the Nature Isle stops waiting for anyone else to tell her she is wonderful and goes on a rampage of appreciation for herself!
• Raising Healthy Daughters – In a guest post at Natural Parents Network, Kate Wicker offers tips to pass on a healthy self-image to the young ladies in our care.
• Unexpected Benefits of a Healthy Pregnancy – How does it feel to have a healthy pregnancy? Dionna at Code Name: Mama discovers that making positive choices can be empowering.
• Filling Up Our Watering Cans – Nada at miniMOMist believes that practicing Sabbath is the same as being a gardener who lovingly tends to the flowers in her garden. She needs to fill up her watering can first.
• Better Body by Baby – Jess from Mama ‘Roo and Family Too! shares how having her first baby makes her feel even more beautiful and confident about her body than ever before.
• These Breasts Were Made for Nursing – Becoming a mother helped Mandy from Living Peacefully with Children to embrace her womanhood and improve her self image.
• Yeah, I’m Pretty Cool – Amanda at Let’s Take the Metro writes about her own self love and how she hopes to foster the same self-respect in her children.
• Who I’ve Become – The future is bright with That Mama Gretchen who shares her past and present perspective on body image and how she hopes to become a change agent with her daughter.
• Ever-Evolving Me – Joella at Fine and Fair writes to her daughter about her innate drive to continue learning, growing, and evolving.
• I love you for your mind – Lauren at Hobo Mama turns a dubious phrase on its head with a little self-loving slam poetry.
• Stop Think of Love with Your Body – Amy of Peace 4 Parents shares an exercise to gradually transition from hating to loving your body – stretch marks, sags, imperfections, and all.
• I Love Me! – Jenny @ I’m a full-time mummy shares the things that she loves about herself!
• First, I’m Superwoman. Later, I’m Supperwoman – Patti @ Jazzy Mama explains how she loves taking care of her amazing body. It birthed 4 children, after all!
• Baby Strikes A Pose – Emma from Your Fonder Heart writes about her family’s decision not to let their 7 month old model, and uses the opportunity to think more deeply about girls (young and old) and how they determine their self-worth.
• Love Your Tree – How do you picture the ways your body and mind change? Amy at Anktangle writes about how trees help her have perspective about her own growth over time.
• Pumpkin Butt – Zoie at TouchstoneZ writes about how birth and pumpkins are the way to accepting her body
• I do love me – Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes talks about the lessons about loving herself she wants to pass along to her daughter.
• Appreciating Who I Am – Linni at An Unschooling Adventure describes the things she likes about herself and the way she appreciates who she is as a person.
• I love me! : A journey – Christine at African Babies Don’t Cry shares her journey on arriving at the point where she can say: I love me!
• My Daughter Doesn’t Care So Why Should I? – Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama calls herself on the carpet for the image of self love and beauty she portrays in front of her toddler.
• Finding out who I am – Melissa at Vibrant Wanderings shares an exercise that helped her identify positive qualities she possesses, and how that has helped her learn to love herself.