Praise Yourself

Number six on The Power of Self Love list by Louise Hay is Praise Yourself.

She says Criticism breaks down the inner spirit. Praise builds it up. Praise yourself as much as you can. Tell yourself how well you are doing with every little thing.

This one is challenging for me. I’m working on it because I was trained from birth to praise the parent. That’s why I believe I do a much better job encouraging others. For anyone who grew up with a narcissist caretaker then you know I’m getting ready to tell you that praising yourself was not encouraged as a child. You’re too focused on praising the caretaker. The narcissist parent is the one who must be praised. The only time the child is praised is when they align with the narcissist image, rules, and honor the system.

That said if you are not used to praising yourself then it may seem very foreign to you. But we must embrace it and praise ourselves for our achievements. I started a little mind game recently. Every time I work out I put an imaginary dollar in an imaginary bank and say you did good working out today. Here’s a dollar. I’m saving those imaginary dollars for a real prize. I’m not sure what my prize is going to be yet but it’s going to be something that awards me out of my ordinary.

I encourage you to praise yourself in any way you can. We must acknowledge our power as we have the power to do more than we believe we can do. God uses everyone to help others and in that there is power. Remember he lives in us and we are made in his image and that is very powerful. Praise yourself because you are worthy!