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Isn’t it ridiculous that saying I’m proud of myself feels like a confession? It sounds silly. If anyone were to tell me they’re proud of themselves I would have nothing but love and support to share. But saying it about myself feels wrong. Like I’m being boastful and vain. I know this rings true for more women than just me because women especially are taught to be humble. “It’s not polite to brag.”

I call bullshit.

Since announcing my blog I’ve received so many kind words. If you know me you know I’m a pretty emotional person. Needless to say, I’m kind of a mess right now. As I write this I’m sitting in an airport about to board a flight, trying to hide the tears running down my face. I feel like I’m living someone else’s life. Who is this jet-setting girl “working” from an airport, sharing and receiving love with the world from her laptop?

After I hit the big, scary POST button on Facebook, making my blog known to the world (or at least my Facebook friends) I realized a big part of my fear came from a life-long feeling of less-than. I never learned to value myself above others and I’ve always been a humble person. Don’t get me wrong, being humble has its place. I’m not saying you should be arrogant. The world has enough assholes. But

no one should ever downplay who they are, what they feel, or what their needs are!

Four years ago I read my first personal development book, “You Can Heal Your Life” by Louise Hay. (Highly recommend it by the way!) When I got to the section that asks you to look into the mirror and say, “I love you.” I couldn’t do it without crying. That was the moment I realized I needed to prioritize loving myself.

Since then I’ve read several books, let go of relationships that were not serving me, completed a yoga certification course (which was just as much personal exploration as learning about yoga), started instructing yoga classes (something that was way out of my comfort zone), quit my full-time job, and started a blog. Can you believe I almost didn’t list the blog? * facepalm *. I did all of this for me, for my own growth, and

I’M FREAKING PROUD OF MYSELF!

I’ve made a ton of progress, but I’m far from done. The beautiful thing about life is that it’s always changing. That means that we get to grow and change and learn along with it.  We lose ourselves when we stay idle, settle for what we know or hide who we are from the world. Or worse, when we hide who we are from ourselves like I did for most of my life. It took four years of intentionally working on my own personal growth for me to finally get the confidence to really, truly share who I am with the world.

If I can do this work, anyone can.

You, me, your neighbor, that girl at work, … we should all be proud of who we are! But to be proud, you have to start by knowing who you are and loving yourself.

Start small. Pick up a book (I’m currently loving Rachel Hollis’ “Girl, Stop Apologizing” on Audible – because what mom has time to actually read). Start following inspiring people on social media, un-follow people who make you feel bad about yourself, make an appointment with a therapist, take a class, go to a conference, start using affirmations, or whatever! Just start somewhere.

The process is never-ending and challenging but I promise you it’s worth it. You’re worth it. I genuinely believe that the world will be a better place if we all learn to embrace and share who we truly are. So if you don’t feel worthy of the time, energy and resources this kind of growth takes, then don’t do it for you. Do it for all the lives you’ll touch. Do it for your kid(s). Do it for the future you who KNOWS you’re worthy and is so grateful you took those steps.