I, myself, am made entirely of flaws--stitched together with good intentions. ~~ Creating a Positive Self Image

This is probably going to be one of the hardest post because I, myself, (as i'm sure with many others) struggle with keeping a positive self image. Unless you are a complete narcissist,  always keeping a positive self image is a hard thing to do. There is always something in this world that is telling us that we are not good enough-- whether it's media, our peers-- or worst of all, ourselves. We are our own worst critic. We know every single one of our faults, insecurities, imperfections.... everything. Thus the cause for us being so hard on ourselves and so self critical.

So, how do we go about creating a positive self image? Is it something that can happen over night? Not likely. It's something that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. But in the end-- it is completely worth it. 

To get started, I'm going to post the perfect example of what we need to do. And if you think I'm kidding. I'm not.  This girl is a genius and will go far in life.

As silly as this sounds (and looks), it is actually very effective.(*side note-- you don't have to dance in the mirror like she does-- but if that helps you-- by all means, go right ahead!*) You see-- what happens when you 'talk to yourself' in the mirror is your sub-conscious picks up on these 'positive affirmations' and starts to believe what you're telling yourself. Don't believe me? There is TONS of literature to back me up on this. Google it. If I posted everything on here, you'd be reading this post for days.

Think about how you feel if you think negative thoughts about yourself. Say you constantly think you're a jerk because you've done a lot of jerk-like things to your friends lately, or you constantly think to yourself your are fat, or ugly or slow, or dumb, or worthless.... after a while, you start believing these nonsensical things.

But say that you make the effort to tell or think to yourself nothing but positive things all day long. Look for things you like about yourself. Say you have a fun personality, you like your smile, you are kind, you  are smart-- heck, you could even go as far as just saying you like your butt! After you've found things you like about yourself, keep reminding yourself about those things. The next step is to find the things you want yourself to be-- or want to believe about yourself. Say you want to be a better friend-- more kind and loving or that you love to do certain things like workout, or to be more confident. That's when you do what the little girl in the video does. Tell yourself those things every single day whilst looking yourself in the mirror. Pretty soon, not only will you believe those things, you will become those things. That's the power of the subconscious-- it adapts and does what you tell it.

One thing that we can do is write all these things down and post them to a mirror we look into every day. By doing so, we will surely see them and be reminded of what we want to accomplish and what we want to become.

**This is a VERY good and effective tool for people who want to lose weight as well. Posting pictures all around your house or room of the body you want with your head pasted to it. You're subconscious will start believing that's what you look like and will make the process of achieving it that much easier.**

Now, as much as I would like to say that this is all you have to do-- sadly it's not. While it's important to use positive self-speak, it is also important to act on your sense of self-image. This is achieved by recognizing and accepting responsibility. You've got to take matters into your own hands. Responsibility is about owning up to the fact that you are in control of your attitude, your reactions, and your sense of worth. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent," and that is the crux of poor self-image: letting other people and circumstances serve as the source of lowering your self-image is going to keep you stuck. Accept the responsibility for your circumstances. Make a decision to do something about them. Even if others appear to stand in your way, work around them. Don't resign.

Next thing to do is to work on your resilience. What is resilience? It is the the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness. Resilient people have the emotional strength to get through life's difficulties without falling apart. This isn't about belittling the hardships and challenges of life – they are still very real – but it is about how you react and how you work your way through them. You always have a choice between demeaning yourself or always remembering your self-worth and staying firm in that resolve. You are not a victim to your circumstances. Focus your energy-- on what you need to do to change the situation or the circumstances-- and DO IT. It's going to be tough and require a lot of effort-- but it's well worth it and necessary to get where you want to be. 

Becoming the best 'you' is a long and difficult journey and it takes time, effort and patience. Things wont change all at once. But, slowly and surely they will change and you will begin to notice the difference in your life. 

Remember: You're awesome. You're amazing. YOU ARE WORTH IT ALL.