30 days.

I can do this!

I’m only on Day 7… I mean, I’m on Day 7.

30 day Bravery Challenge. What does this have to do with Love? I couldn’t figure it out either until I started this challenge.

The first few days were confusing; tasks and quotes about how I was enough; how I was already prepared. I went back to the introduction to make sure I signed up for the right challenge. I mean really now, Was I doing a 30 day Love Yourself Challenge or 30 day Bravery Challenge?!

Day 7 and the lightbulb finally lit up.

The challenge on accepting that I’m enough is a real challenge. It’s a conundrum in itself…isn’t the point of a bravery challenge to make you a better person? How can you then be enough if you can be better?

Then came the challenge that made sense to me in theory. And it was a challenge with a task that would end in a result! Or so I assumed.
I completed the task and the task itself did not end in a result. It ended. Like that.
Day 4 challenge and I had to ask friends for constructive feedback on my strengths and weaknesses. Task completed. I received, reviewed and analysed the feedback…now what?

Day 7 and I finally understand why I had to prepare myself for the next few weeks.

Receiving feedback was less about strengths and weaknesses but more about the relationships I have and being brave enough to face the feedback. There was no action to take once I received the feedback. Nothing to do; no trying to change anything or turn my weaknesses to strengths. It was all about acceptance. Accepting that I would read their words and do nothing. No self-improvement; no stressing on what I could do differently. Simply accepting that those descriptions were someone’s experience of me and accepting those I thought to be accurate and discarding those I did not think to be true. No further action required.

And therein lies another conundrum. Once we accept our whole selves, we cannot carry on living without loving ourselves and thus being ourselves. And if we are ourselves, then loving ourselves is the only popossible way towards self-improvement.

And that’s when loving yourself becomes the bravest action you can take.

#LoveLightKindness
#mybutterflydream