Loving myself!

Several years ago I was turned on to a little book called "When I loved myself enough." by Kim McMillen. It began as handwritten pages passed form person to person and grew beyond that only because of it's message. Which is the title plus the knowing that we are all connected and loving each other begins with loving ourselves.

I have never had a sefl-confidence problem. I am assertive, outgoing, friendly, courageous and often pushy. All of those things go hand in hand for me with my self-confidence. Not cockiness, but confidence. I am confident in my abilities to be good at most anything I attempt. I am confident in my sense of humor, my ideas and opinions. All of this I realize can be too much for many to be around for very long. I have recently begun to TRY to pay a bit more attention, when I am in mixed company, to be more aware of how all of those traits in me may be leaving people feeling. My ego can easily get in the way when I am meeting new people and if i am not paying attention to myself, I can attempt to please others in a way that will make me feel good about myself.

I am getting a little confused here.....

Focus Amy!

I love me and I don't think that there is anything wrong with that. I am worthy of all that I want and will get it all because I believe that I am worthy and am not trying to prove my value to others, or myself. I love myself enough. One of my favorite pages in the book says: "When I loved myself enough forgiving others became irrelevant." WOW! And we always thought that forgiving others was a gift to them right? This little book is so simple yet profound....When I loved myself enough I bought a feather bed. So simple but it is a worthiness test. How worthy am I of getting and giving.

When I loved myself enough, I quit talking about the past.
When I lovede myself enough, I gave up smoking.
When I loved myself enough I stopped yelling at my kids.
When I loved myself enough I started picking up other people's litter.
When I loved myself enough, I understood my needs.

I want to leave the people I am around with a sense of who I am not what I am. Who I am is: caring, loving, sensitive, intuitive, open, generous and courageous. And I have to love myself enough to be true to who I am without fear that no one will like me or want to be around me. My ego can get in the way and hope for more, but I want to leave people with a sense of feeling better about themselves and not with the frantic feeling I give myself sometimes. It is my purpose when meeting new people to be true to myself without my ego involved and to portray all that I really am! Again I LIKE....I mean I LOVE it when others laugh at my jokes etc...But that is not the only thing I want to leave people with. I want them to feel good about spending time with me, that I don't suck their energy from them but give back all that they are giving or needing in a scenario.

I recently had cocktails with some friends and one I haven't seen for a long time. As I was leaving I gave "my girls" hugs and she said to me "I am so happy to see you happy! You are positively glowing!" And I said "I AM happy!". Honestly, happiness doesn't even cover it.

I love me! I love who I am around others. I love my enthusiasm and passion for my life and my kids. I love my openness to new ideas.