What’s your favorite thing about yourself?
The question asks for one thing, and I am going to give it four, because I have thought about this and they do not come apart. Resilience, nonconformity, self-love, and the love I share with my husband and children. Picking one would be like naming a favorite leg.
- Resilience.
I get back up. That is most of it. Life has knocked me over the usual number of times, and each time I have stood up a little slower and a little wiser, and carried on. Setbacks, I have decided, are not failures. They are the part of the story where you find out what you are made of, and I have been pleasantly surprised more often than not. - Nonconformity.
There is a template for how a life is supposed to go, and I misplaced my copy early. I live on my own terms, chase the things I actually care about, and have made my peace with the raised eyebrows. Not conforming has taken me down roads the template never mentioned, let me question the way things are done, and left me with a life that fits, which is more than I can say for most things off the rack. - Self-love.
The world runs a steady campaign of comparison and self-criticism, and I have decided not to subscribe. I know my worth. I know my strengths, I know my weaknesses, and I am on reasonable terms with both. I celebrate what I get right and forgive what I get wrong, usually by the next morning. Being kind to myself has made me more confident, more honest and a great deal more content, and it costs nothing, which appeals to me. - Love for my family.
My husband and children are the best thing about me that I cannot take credit for. Their love and support made me who I am, and the love we share gives me somewhere to belong, something steady to stand on, and a reason for all of the above. Being loved like that, and getting to love them back, is the joy I would keep if I had to give up everything else.
So, four things, and they hold each other up. The resilience protects the nonconformity, the self-love makes the resilience possible, and my family is why any of it matters. Being myself, on purpose, turned out to be the favorite thing. Yours is in there somewhere too. Have a look.
