When was the last time you felt proud of something you did? For how much time did you feel proud? How many times have you thought of something nice you did? Or maybe something nice happened to you that made you happy? When was the last time you pat yourself on the shoulder, telling yourself that you’re doing a great job? Probably long time ago.
Now when was the last time you remembered something embarrassing happened to you? How many times you think of that person who hurt you? How many times you could not sleep because you were thinking about your failures? The “what if”s that would not stop in your mind? When was the last time you beat yourself over something you failed doing? Probably just now.
For the past month, month and a half, I have been acknowledging every little success I make. Every trip to the train station in the cold morning. Every task I finish in work. Every meal I cook. Every shower I take… I will be watching you (Sting reference for y’all). And my god, my life has completely changed for the better. I am more proud of myself, more confident, and just… more at peace.
You see, we humans value a loss much more than a gain, it is wired in our brain. So we are always focusing on the negative things in our lives. We regret too much, we fear too much, we get depressed too much, even over the smallest things. Whenever I get a panic attack, it hinders me to acknowledge the good things I have accomplished in my life, the love I get from the people around me, the love I give to them.
If you want to feel better, try to acknowledge every little success you make, no matter how small it is. That means, if you fear taking a shower and you pushed yourself to do it, acknowledge that, pat yourself on the shoulder, sounds weird I know, but trust me you’ll feel goosebumps all over your body. It is as if you found someone who appreciates you, and the best part is, they will always be with you, because they are you.
There is this fabulous comedian, called Tim Minchin, he has a song called “Not Perfect”. He sings these lyrics about his body:
And the weirdest thing about it is
I spend so much time hating it
But it never says a bad word about me
Yourself has always been with you, and you’ve been hating it. Yet all it does is staying with you, and keep you going. Try for once, give yourself what it deserves. Acknowledge its existence, acknowledge its motivation, acknowledge its love.
Anxiety is Fun 