1. Morning magic
Make sure you wake up early enough to
have a few minutes of luxurious self-care. It could be something as
simple as doing your hair, painting your nails or take a hot shower with
scented oils. Light a candle when you have your breakfast or put on
your favourite song before you leave the house. Do something nice, just
for yourself. Wear your best underwear, your favourite perfume or a
special necklace or piece of jewellery.
2. Smile
This one is a classic, but one that
really work. Smile, smile, smile – even if you don’t particularly feel
like it. You will feel and look more beautiful instantly! Personally,
I’m a bit shy, so I find it hard to smile to strangers sometimes. Kids,
however, is a whole different matter. Make eye contact with a child and
send them a loving smile. It’s the best feeling in the world!
3. Carry something sparkling
… and I don’t mean the drinkable kind. A
little glitter and glam really goes a long way for feeling radiant and
beautiful. I always carry a lip gloss, but I’m also in love with
glittery nail polish, sparkly jewellery and pretty notebooks and glitter
pens. Make sure you surround yourself with your favourite colours and
textures – it will make you feel gooood.
4. Eat healthy and nutritious food
Eat the whole rainbow! I have this thing
with colourful food and I swear I feel better when my plate at least
contain something green, something yellow and something red. Orange food
looks tasty, and purple food is just awesome! When you eat healthy
food, you’ll feel more in touch with yourself and the world around you.
You’ll get energy and power!
5. Work out
I feel that when I work out in the
morning, I get a glow that is just out of this world! I get so many
compliments on my work-out days because it makes me shine! You should
try it sometime! ;)
6. Keep a gratitude journal and/or photobook
Look for the good stuff, the beauty, the
love. I take instagrams mostly, when I want to lift my spirits. No
matter where you are, there is always something around you that is
beautiful, interesting or unique. The more positive you’ll feel – the
more beautiful you’ll feel too.
7. Practice radical acceptance
You are the way you are. You look the
way you look. You are human and you are unique. There is no one like you
on this earth. You didn’t come here without a purpose. You are no
accident, failure or coincidence. No matter how you feel about yourself,
the way you look, who you are, who you want to be – there is a plan for
you and you don’t have to change anything about yourself. All you have
to do is accept and respect who you are. Trust yourself.
To emphasize this point, I will
share a very personal example here. I have always been very tall for my
age (I landed at 180 cm) and I always felt so different when growing up.
It felt like my body was waaaay to big for my confidence and all I
wanted to do was to disappear and so eating very little became my
survival strategy. I absolutely hated being tall, different and clumsy
(and to be honest I still feel this way sometimes). However, as of the
last year or so I have come so much closer to accept who I am. I’m not
religous, but I believe I was handed this challenge on earth for a
reason. I’m starting to believe that I have been given all these
challenges of mental illness so that I will be able to understand and
help other people better. That’s radical acceptance in practice!
8. Write a love letter to yourself
… and never leave home without it. Make
it into a poster and put it on your wall! Write yourself a love note
with a whiteboard pen on your mirror! Send yourself love letters in the
mail, take lots of self-portraits and buy yourself flowers. Make a list
of what you consider a luxury and make sure you give it to yourself! You
deserve it! (Or even better – you are entitled to it!)
9. Share your beautiful soul
You have so much to give! My friend
Zubia just told me that in Islam, smiling is considered a charity. Isn’t
that awesome? Give of yourself by smiling, sharing your wisdom, helping
other people, be open about your struggles and problems, truly listen
and let your love flow through your heart. Vulnerability is beautiful
and there’s nothing more sacred that the true connection between human
beings.
10. Think it to feel it
Thoughts create emotions and if you want
to feel beautiful – guess what you have to do? Yup, you have to stop
pushing yourself down and start thinking positively about yourself. That
means you have to stop thinking “I’m not
pretty/thin/elegant/stylish/beautiful/gorgeous enough” and replace it
with “I’m already gorgeous/beautiful/stylish/elegant/healthy/pretty”.
You think this about your girlfriends all the time, don’t you? Why not
yourself? Why are you treating yourself so much worse than you treat the
rest of the human population? This is hard work, but start slowly.
Right now – write a support-thought on a piece of paper. Read it often
to create a new thoughtway in your mind. See how it changes the way you
feel about yourself. Here is my support-thought from the example above.
“I am just as tall as I should be. I am beautiful just the way I am”
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