To celebrate one year of Green Things and Honey, I wanted to share something that has stuck by my side, in my head, on my walls, in my calender, and posted on a sticky note all around me: That is a reminder to live my authentic life. As mentioned in my previous post, this year has been such a positive journey for me and I’ve really developed a fantastic relationship with myself along the way. If you’ve read my story, you’d know this hasn’t always been so. I’ve suffered from a lot of anxiety, depression, self-loathing, and a lot of mental ugliness going on upstairs. Everyday, I surround myself with constant reminders to not let fears, doubts, and uncertainties get in the way and stop me from living my authentic life. What does that mean, anyways? It means being true to you, your heart, your mind, your body, and your soul. Treating myself with value, loving myself, accepting myself. Living your authentic life means you are living out your dreams and your visions and believing in them and yourself every step of the way. It means, seeking out your truths and aligning your life with your principles. It means freeing yourself of doubt, pity, fear, and self-hate. It means letting go of things that no longer serve you to make room for abundance. For a long time, I was not living my authentic life. I was searching for quite some time to realize eventually that when I finally turned off everything else and became aware of myself, I was able to find what drives my authenticity. For some people (I was one of them), they’re afraid to show their true self, their uniqueness, for fear of being judged or made fun of. For others (I was also one of them), they do things that others want them to do. For example, parents, friends, boyfriends, co-workers, bosses, etc. And some, do things to fit in. They do what everyone else is doing because they don’t know what the hell it is they like to do. They see someone else happy, successful, with the “perfect life” and think they can have that too, if they do the same thing. I was also this person for a while, too. Self love and living your authentic life come in harmony and together make for a fabulous relationship with yourself. So how do you really stick true to you? It takes work, but you and your happiness are a priority and who isn’t willing to work at that!? I want to share with you some steps that have helped me along the way. . .
- Free yourself. Letting go can be the hardest part but it’s the most important. Letting go of all the things, relationships, places, jobs, etc. that no longer serve you, that no longer make you happy. Ridding the negative, toxic things in your life makes room for abundance and for the right things to come into your life.
- Follow your heart. What do you love to do? Do you have hobbies other than social media, your friends, clubbing, and the television? Well, do them! Fill your schedule and your days up with things that excite you, nourish your soul, and make you feel alive. Passion is what drives people. What is your passion?
- Make YOU time. This is so important. Do something that makes you happy, relaxed, or feel loved. Don’t wait on someone else to do something for you, do it for yourself. You deserve that.
- Accept yourself. Accept that you’re unique, accept your circumstances, accept your journey. Have compassion for yourself and make peace. I was one of these people that was so hard on myself and I see it with others all the time. I was unforgiving. I sucked at life. I would get so mad at myself and then comes a storm of self-hatred. Stop that! Recognize your troubles and your all that you’ve accomplished and where you came from, and feel good about yourself. Life is tough sometimes and that’s why coming to terms of acceptance are so important.
- Value yourself. Do you ever find yourself in situations where you catch yourself saying, “I don’t deserve this” or “You don’t deserve me” or “Why would someone treat me this way”? I think we have all been here. Hopefully less often than more. If you find yourself saying this a lot then maybe it’s time for you to go back to step 1 and see what you need to let go of in your life. When you value yourself you will attract others who value you as well. The way you treat yourself is the way you give others to treat you as well.
- Pay attention to your thoughts. Have you ever paid attention to the voice in your head? Well, how can you not, it never shuts up. We have so many thoughts a day that it’s impossible to keep up. This is important though because our thoughts are creating our reality. Take a good hard look at your life. You created this life, you attracted your relationships, you attracted your job, your friends, all of it. Are you happy with it? If not, then reflect on your thoughts. . . What are they telling you? Are they doubting you? Are they feeding you negative thoughts? Are they judging? Or are they loving, supportive, and powerful? If you want to change your life around, change your thoughts around.
- Become inspired. This one is my favorite. We all have dreams and aspirations, right? They usually come from being inspired by something and they grow with more inspiration. Surround yourself with things that inspire you. Make vision boards–these are powerful. I used to think I was such a weirdo for doing these and hanging them up in my room until I found out that some really awesome and successful people do, too. Fill your organizer with positive and motivating quotes. Find a mentor, someone that you look up to that helps you grow, someone that has wisdom to offer you. Find a health coach or someone who is there to give you support and motivation and help you grow in your life. Check out my Health Coaching page or my website, www.amandachilders.com.
“As you become more aligned with the truth of who you are, the question of liking yourself goes away. It is a natural state of being.” -Rachel Andrews
