Can you pin point a moment in your life where you were in love with yourself? Yes, that is such a bold question.
A mentor of mine asked me this question and I immediately blushed, felt uncomfortable and responded with "why?"
I said, I thought that beauty wasn't selfishness and that our focus should be on others. He told me that I was beyond wrong and that the only way to give out a beautiful love is to start with being in love with yourself.
When was the last time you loved what your soul and heart had to offer? It wasn't because you went back to school shopping and feel confident in your new wardrobe. You felt confident in solely your heart and the person that you are. Are you proud of your personality and the way you think of others and act on it?
After a lot of time and thought, I came up with a moment that I felt strong, loved, and genuinely happy...maybe even my best self? This past semester I studied abroad in Glasgow, Scotland and took a weekend trip to the Isle of Skye. I sat on top of a mountain overlooking lochs and honestly what looked to me like Heaven. I will never forget looking around at all of my wonderful friends and thinking about how lucky I felt. My heart was glowing even though I got done with a rigorous hike. I felt strong, I was confident my friends knew my real heart and that the Earth was giving me a gift I could never repay. In that very moment, I fell in love with who I was becoming and the path that I was pursuing. I had never felt more beautiful.
Here is the trick...we should feel beautiful all of the time. We shouldn't have to pin point a moment where we felt like our best. I totally get what you are thinking, we all have crap days and crap months where it feels like the weight of the world is leaning on our shoulders. We should never feel like we have to be our very best all the time. But once you grasp a moment where you are confident that your heart was happy and could give off a happiness you are proud of, that is a moment you should remember and practice.
So really, it's all about practice.
How can we practice the act of sharing and finding our best heart?
1. Understanding your goals
To understand/have a grasp on who you were vs who you want to be. To practice having a heart you are proud of, you need to understand what you are proud of. Do you love the way you act on others? Do you have passions that you feel encourage others? Do you have an infectious personality that gives off happienss? What makes you feel the best? Figure that out first and work on how to keep that feeling close.
2. Ask loved ones
Ask your loved ones when they feel you have been your best self. What actions were you doing and what kind of person did they see you as to be filled with so much beauty and love?
3. Find the love you are wanting to give
I think it is important to find the love and the people that your heart wants to give love to. When you are focusing on healthy relationships, you are able to give a love that is abundant and long lasting. It can be hard to feel beautiful and strong when people are constantly walking in and out. I challenge you to write down the people who mean the most to you and why you love giving them your love.
I truly believe that the outside is only beautiful if the inside is. Sometimes we just need reasurance that we are on the right path. Practice is a great way to keep your heart glowing even if you aren't at your best.
It is all about the beauty you feel and we see within. Let it glow, we are ready.