Self-appreciation is a high vibe!

I had a huge moment of self-appreciation this week that helped me deal easily with a challenging situation. Usually, I have to be very intentional to set aside time for self-appreciation. It doesn’t always come naturally. This week was different. Self-acknowledgment arose organically, and it felt amazing.

As those of you reading these messages know, I nearly lost a loved one last month. I’ve been working full-time with clients and then overtime on the Etsy shop. All this “Vibe tuning” practice has been paying off. I’ve been in a great space regardless of circumstances. However, when I took my car in for maintenance, I suspected I’d have to put all my skills into practice! Sure enough, my dear, sweet 25-year-old friend-with-wheels required nearly a very hefty amount to fix several really big problems — struts, radiator, transmission, mounts, hoses, and the list went on. I am actually in awe that she drove so flawlessly on recent long road trips and never broke down. Of course! I love that car, and she loves me right back.

I knew the bill would be a big one, but when I saw the amount, I had a moment! I shut my eyes and talked to the Divine. “I want to keep the car for now, get her fixed, and drive her several more years, but if it makes sense to get a one, I will. What do you think is best right now? I trust you.” I heard a thought rather loudly. “Pay the bill and keep the car.” I didn’t question the guidance. I signed the papers and gave the go-ahead for the repairs.

Then something magical happened. I started feeling really good about the positive, non-dramatic way I handled something that would have thrown me over the edge even a few years ago. I didn’t freak out. I didn’t feel sorry for myself. I didn’t have a knee-jerk reaction and buy a new car without researching what I wanted. I felt appreciation for the service team, who has always been so honest and good with me that I trust them impeccably. I really liked myself in that moment, and it felt good. It felt empowering. It felt like I was being the soul that I am just having adventures on this earth and trusting the Divine to help me through them. I felt like an innocent kid again—joyous, free to love life despite circumstances. It was something else.

Full of myself, I sat down and told the universe, “I want this paid off easily in a loving way in grace and ease, no matter what that is. I want to keep loving my life, my holidays, and my dear ones. I want to keep being a light on this earth and not dim it with useless worry.” I sat, breathed, and received a huge download of love to the point that I was floating in bliss.

In the middle of this bliss-party, I remembered I had not balanced my books since early September. Wonder of wonders, I discovered that somehow one of my payment processing accounts had switched magically from making deposits to my normal account and had instead been making deposits to savings! I’ve been so busy I never sat down to figure out why the normal account was much leaner than usual, and as a result, half the bill was paid already.

Feeling pretty happy, I remembered that I also turned a delightfully young age three months ago, which enabled me to withdraw from my old IRA without penalty. Woo hoo! I’ll refill the well later. For now, spirit came up with the solution I needed in record time.

Had I spent time wallowing around in self-pity or feeling bad about the bill, my life, or me, I would have missed the guidance, computer error, and the incredible help that I started receiving three months before I knew I needed it.

Self-appreciation is a high vibe and a feel-good, wonderful space to be in.It is a natural, innocent urge to be proud of your accomplishments— both internal and external. We have been trained out of it, but we can consciously and intentionally indulge in those moments of self-acknowledgment until it becomes natural again.

There’s nothing arrogant about appreciating yourself. In fact, refusing to acknowledge your light is false humility. True humility is knowing all good comes from God. False humility is pretending to be small. You aren’t. It is time we own our beauty, grace, and light, if only quietly by admitting it to ourselves. The world needs our sparkle and shine and loving vibrations. Self-appreciation—appreciation of the love, light, and beauty within—is about as high-vibe as it gets.

You do so much good every day, even if you don’t see it. Energy is invisible to most on Earth, but in the heavens, they see every stream of light you emit. They see your kind thoughts like sparkles that ripple into the human pond. They see the waves of love emitted by an appreciative soul. They see the kind, caring vibrations as a loving glow. Your energy is real. Your love is real. You might as well give yourself a little acknowledgment and let it shine even brighter 🙂

Here are a few tips to help you give yourself permission to focus on self-appreciation:

1.  Start small

At the end of the day, think about one thing that you thought, did, or said that added to the vibration of love in the world.

It can be large or small. It can be as simple as picking up a piece of trash and throwing it in the bin because you care about our Mother Earth. It can be the smallest good wish for a stressed-out person you saw while running errands. It can be a moment of appreciating birdsong or a moment when tired, you sat down and chose to rest for a moment. It can be the love you put into cooking and eating dinner. Any loving feeling, word, thought, or deed counts.

Take a moment to really speak to yourself in appreciation, even if you do so in your own mind. Congratulate yourself for emanating love into the world. Imagine the light that you transmitted at that moment. Imagine that brightness ripping out into the world.

Take a moment to appreciate yourself as the light-worker that you truly are. Try to do this until you really feel a sense of self-appreciation. It feels like love.

2. Acknowledge & appreciate a gift or talent you hav

Perhaps you have the gift of patience or compassionate listening. Perhaps you make an incredible recipe that everyone loves. Maybe you’re helpful and handy. Perhaps you’re creative or a loving parent. You might be a caring caretaker or co-worker. Maybe you have a heart for animals and pray for them every day. Perhaps you have a great off-color sense of humor or a way with words. Maybe you create beauty in your home or like to inspire people. Perhaps you are the loving hub of a family. Maybe you bake great cookies, sketch beautiful designs, fix cars really well, or have a way with plants.

All of us, no matter how great or small, have gifts and talents. Take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate yours. Tell yourself, “You are really good at….”

Think about how well you do something, and then take the time to enjoy the thoughts of how you are sharing love with life in the smallest ways every time you use a gift or talent.

3. Acknowledge and appreciate that you can appreciate others

If you have a really hard time appreciating yourself, try to appreciate others and then acknowledge how kind you are in seeing their gifts and goodness! Even if you were brainwashed into feeling bad about yourself or “knocked down a peg” to be humble, you can appreciate your kindness, your love and caring heart, and your willingness to grow. Trick yourself into self-appreciation if you must by looking for the good in others and then appreciating that you are willing to do so!

3. Speak kindly to yourself

Tell yourself often, “You did that so well. Look at how kind you were just now in traffic. Look at how you are enjoying this music. You’re such a good person. Look at how you just appreciated the beautiful sky…” Imagine you are an angel speaking to your human self, acknowledging every little good thing. It won’t be long till you’re in a very high vibe, attracting more good!

Try to give yourself permission this week to acknowledge the love and light that you share, even in the smallest of ways. Tell yourself, “Good job! I just added a little more love to the world.” One by one, thought, word, and deed, we strengthen the light on this earth. That is something to feel good about!

As you know, when you feel good, you feel God. When you acknowledge your light, you acknowledge the One light. When you allow yourself to feel good about yourself, you open to the high vibe flow of goodness, grace, guidance, ease, and flow.

So next time you catch yourself in the act of self-criticism, stop and instead congratulate yourself on something you have done well 🙂