Fall in love, over and over again with YOU! 

Yes…, with YOU!

Learn To Adore Your Inner Sparkle

A warm welcome to all the readers and supporters of ‘Inspired Women’

I am truly so honoured and excited to share some of my therapeutic knowledge, skills and resources, as well as my own personal experiences and reflections with both the creators and readers of such a wonderful company, namely, ‘Inspired Women’. 

More importantly, I am here to empower women, women of all ages, of all races and backgrounds. Women with both past,present or recurring traumas,fears and insecurities. For those grieving loss or celebrating successes. For those (like me), who often struggle with life’s challenges. I am here for single ladies, wives, mothers, women in the workplace, home executives and those in retirement.

I am here to support, assist and remind you to continuously embark on and persist through your own journey towards self-acceptance and self-love. To find your voice and to recognize your own self-worth. I would also like to challenge you to manage and neutralize your ‘saboteurs’ in order to reduce your mental load. I would like to teach you how to

both admire and cherish even the slightest ‘sparkling moments’ of inner self-growth. 

I am here to help you, discover YOU…

That is my all time favourite aspiration as so many women under-acknowledge their own personal development.

Pause for a moment and ask yourself: 

How often do I make myself a priority? Do I even take time to invest in my own personal value? 

The sad reality is that life often happens at such an overwhelming fast pace, that very few of us have the energy to invest in ourselves, (especially after we’ve attended to everyone and everything else). The irony is however that the most important relationship you will ever have, is the one you will have with yourself!

And as I reminisce about my own life and the discoveries I made (both pleasant and unpleasant), I found myself constantly pondering the following,: ‘Living life’ is sometimes just hard…right?! ‘Adulting’ is tough, and I am sure that this is a universal truth we can all agree on! 

Yes, I might be creating quite a bit of discomfort with this statement as we are conditioned to believe that we should achieve an everlasting status quo of deep contentment, total bliss and transformation. However, loving yourself in a challenging world often makes self-love and self-compassion appear absolutely impossible to achieve and this can leave one feeling very discouraged, isolated and hopeless.

So, with all of this in mind, and for the purpose of this article, lets talk about you can start the process of self-love, self-acceptance and ultimately self-growth in a world where we are sometimes just ‘surviving’,never mind thriving? 

 

My advice:

•It starts with a choice… 

A choice to choose YOU and to choose YOU, over and over again.

• Remember the phrase ‘Rome is not build in one day? Self- love is not build in one day. Its a skill and skills typically require time before we can master them. Even once we’ve mastered a skill, we need to keep on investing in it in order to maintain success. The truth is that self-love remains an ongoing journey rather than a destination. It will forever ‘keep you on your toes’

•Start where you are with small aspirations and work with what you have. Its about quality, not quantity. In other words, take a moment and focus on managing areas within your control, such as: choosing to exercise and energize your body for the purpose of physical and mental health; prioritize a healthy sleep regime; choose healthy food options; reward yourself with compliments,savor the moment and experience what you do with attentiveness; 

•Remember: ‘progress over perfection’

•Deal with ‘your truth’. Acknowledge who you are – both your ‘good’ and your ‘bad’. Make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Being human means you are flawed and you have weaknesses. You cannot learn to begin to manage your shadow side if you have not yet acknowledged this side of you.

•Identify past emotional wounds and traumas that still require healing. I would like to encourage you to make a list of these. These ‘bleeding’ wounds will greatly sabotage your own self-growth. 

•Make time to reflect on how you are treating yourself. Do you talk to yourself like you would talk to someone you love?

I am so excited to share many more tips,resources and advice with you! Keep an eye out for my follow-up articles. Additional topics include (but is not restricted to): How your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship you have; How to talk to yourself; Don’t trade your authenticity for approval; How to manage your ‘shadow side’; How to work through emotional wounds; The key to balance; Setting boundaries; How to identify and manage your ‘saboteurs’; How to celebrate your ‘sparkling moments’; The dangers of co-dependency; How to identify and manage your own temperament; Love shouldn’t have to hurt so much.

Remember that you are the only person who can love you when you need to be loved… Acknowledge and lean into your own discomforts. Push through. Growth is never easy, but it is necessary as you have to spend the rest of your life with yourself. Time is non-negotiable…,therefore use it as a woman with an intention! An intention to fall in love with yourself, everyday!

Much love,

Jessica 

Jessica is a registered Clinical Psychologist, based in Private Practice.
Contact details: 073 413 7246
Email: jessicavanzijl@yahoo.com