Insecurities can plague the normal, full-functioning adult – whether it’s messing up at work; witnessing a colleague or contemporary achieving all the expected milestones in life; or carrying a negative self-image that has been around since childhood. This is all seldom talked about, yet are all very normal parts of a person’s struggles and journey.
There are many ways to go dealing with insecurity, some more constructive than others. We can outline the destructive ways a person can cope – that may be acquiring and addiction for a substance, a situation, or a person; inflicting self-harm; or feeding one’s envy and toxicity through negativity, among others.
Of course, these are things we would do well to avoid, rather than participate in. As much as possible, we would like to focus on more sustainable ways of healing and bettering ourselves, and encouraging others to do the same.
What are the sustainable and life-giving ways we can deal with our everyday pains and suffering, whether passing or pertinent? The answer lies in self-love and self-care. This may be too broad a solution, so let’s proceed to breaking it down.
Some of the ways we can practice self-love and self-care are through the following:
1. Have a healthy mental image of yourself.
Everything starts with the mind. Start the habit of waking up and looking in the mirror, and telling yourself that you are awesome. Hug yourself, smile at yourself, give yourself positive affirmations such as you are beautiful, great, and have everything you need to live the life of your dreams.
Even if this feels challenging in the beginning, eventually you will start to believe what you are saying, if you don’t already. And that belief will fuel more and more positivity flowing into the mental image you hold of yourself. Studies have shown that just by making yourself smile, you can trick your brain into feeling happier.
2. Take care of your body.
In your youth, you may have taken for granted the resilience that you had in terms of bouncing back from unhealthy or abusive behaviors towards your body. Make sure that you have all the bases covered – that you take a bath at least once a day, groom yourself as needed, and brush your teeth at least twice a day.
Make regular appointments with your doctor, or have regular check-ups. For your oral hygiene needs, you can go to a family dentist Etobicoke and all other surrounding cities, which definitely have clinics for your needs.
You may find this advice too basic, but you may also be forgetting how the simplest things can have the biggest effect. Don’t take your body for granted.
3. Be mindful of what you eat.
The food we take in may have more effect on our bodies than we ever imagined. Make sure you aren’t falling into the food industry’s advertising traps and are curating what you take in every day. A healthy gut leads to a good mood, increased vitality, and heightened positivity for your life.
Remember that your bodily state strongly affects your mental and emotional state. Make sure to take care of this one instrument you have to live and enjoy life to the fullest.
These are just some of the many ways you can start loving yourself more. You will find that the more you focus on the things you can control, namely yourself, that you get to wield more power to change your circumstances and positively influence the people around you.
