Summer Feels and Realizing your Worth
Happy summer beautiful people. As we come into summer it can be such a wonderful time, yet also stressful for a few reasons. People may feel insecure, self-conscious, bored, and question their sense of self. Whatever you are feeling happy, sad, at peace… it is all ok. I wanted to write this post on embracing the positive summer feels and giving yourself a moment for any of the negative feels and realizing your worth. Summer is a great time to work on yourself.
In order to work on yourself you have to be honest and self-aware. Lying to yourself will only hurt you more and keep you stuck. Nothing changes if nothing changes. You have to be willing to make the change and put in the work.
Before we get further into working on yourself, let’s talk about the summer feels. For some people, right as the bell rings on the last day of school or after the last exam is taken it feels like a huge weight is lifted off of their shoulders. Instantly they are relaxed and blissed out. I’m lucky to say that this is how it went for me this year, but each year is different. I think what allowed me to feel at such peace as summer began was the steps I took leading up to it and the events and challenges that occurred. During this past month I worked my booty off. Night and day studying, working out, working. It was taking a toll on me, but at the same time I kind of liked it and embraced it. It felt good to work hard and if I’m being honest… feel smart. When I studied and understood the material I felt knowledgeable. As I expressed on Instagram and earlier blog posts, I did end up burning out. I pushed too hard, but that allowed me to get the much needed rest I should have already taken. I refreshed on sleep and took a little break from working out. Throughout this, I was stressed because although I wanted to study (in a way lol) I couldn’t because I was so exhausted. In the moment, I was angry, but I soon realized that this experience allowed me to come into a different mentality. Instead of thinking “I have to do perfectly on every exam.” I changed to “I am going to do my very best and that is all I can do. I have studied and put in so much effort.” I became more relaxed and let go of an ounce of control. Then, when my exams ended, I was so happy about the work I had put in within school and my other activities. I took the time to be proud and happy about myself, for myself.
Other times, when school ends you feel depleted and sometimes like you have no feeling left inside your body. If this is the case, take time to relax. It is ok to sit on the couch all day and watch TV, sleep, chill. Allow yourself the time to replenish and reset, but do it intentionally. Know what you are doing, when you are doing it, and why. When you are taking the time to rest, take a moment of realization. Look back at all the hard work you have done. Maybe you feel like you could have done more. That’s ok. Remember that and make a change for next year. There is no reason you should be feeling guilty because what is done his done.
I love the end of the school year because it is so freeing and also a perfect time to make new goals based on your self-reflection. I kind of think of summer sort of like New Year’s. You can look back on your year and be super proud. Look at what worked and what didn’t and decide how you are going to change what you didn’t like.
The key to everything really is confidence. You have to be confident in yourself because if you aren’t it shows. You will know it and everyone around you will know it. If you have to, fake it til you make it. If you start to think and act on confidence, speaking it into existence, soon it will become your reality.
A step in finding your confidence is realizing your worth. You are amazing so start realizing that. You are capable of so much and you have done incredible things. Even just surviving is something to be proud of. Life is tough.
In realizing your worth there are a few of my favorite things:
Turning up the tunes and jamming out hardcore. Don’t care who is watching. Maybe it’s in your car, your room, etc. Have fun and be free.
Reflect. Maybe through yoga, meditation, or simply just sitting in silence for a minute. Think of how powerful and wonderful you are.
Go out by yourself. Take yourself to a meal and instead of scrolling on your phone just be with you and your surroundings.
Workout. Do something you didn’t think you were capable of and show yourself that you can.
I think one reason we care so much about what others think is because we want their approval and we want everyone to like us. Except this fact and decide to be different. If people don’t like you, it is their loss.
Love you lots! Now love yourself.