5 REMINDERS TO ADOPT THE PHRASE "IN LOVE WITH ME"

My goal is to encourage you to adopt this slogan and use it as a mantra, repeating every day to yourself: "I'm in love with me!" I wish that you realize how lucky you are to be yourself.

Have you noticed how this blog utilizes the slogan "In Love With Me" in every post? This is a very powerful phrase to me since it came into my life during a time of real hardship.

“Perhaps you already practice this "beauty" routine or perhaps you don't.”

A couple of months ago I was overcoming a professional challenge in my career. Being a #quadragenarian, #Latina, #woman, and working in the #tech industry can be a bit more challenging than what it is to the opposites. Women in tech that speak with an accent and doesn't use acronyms in verbal communication can mark a significant different inside the work environment. Regardless of the challenges, I have to say I learned a lot, and by being in #love with me, is that I reflect how during these times I grew both personally and professionally. I realized that every adversity is all worth living. Being aware of this and embracing it is what I translate into being in love with me.

Culturally, most of the Latino people aren't used to praising themselves or openly showing self-love to self-encourage. Usually, most of the Latino people avoid saying positive things to or about oneself. I was raised under this misconception. My parents taught me to prioritize humbleness over self-esteem. Which, if you think about it, one is the reflection of the other, but only if you hold self-awareness of your true value.

Not too long ago, I met a person who had high, high self-esteem. For example, I once mentioned to him: "I think the decision you made for our marketing campaign was a smart move. You are very talented!" To what he responded, "Yeah, I am pretty talented." Of course, it makes me laugh. It struck me as odd, but a tiny part of me urged me to learn about this self-assurance because, in some way, it is the right thing to think. Perhaps you already practice this "beauty" routine, or perhaps you don't.

If you are the kind of person who isn't used to saying things such as, "I'm in love with me," "I love how I look today," "I love how I feel today," "I look so beautiful," "I look so handsome," "I am so perfect," I want to share five friendly reminders for you to start utilizing the [daily] phrase "In Love With Me."

Take a look at my blog post, "PATY SESMA: THE QUADRAGENARIAN BEHIND QUADRAMOROUS"

#1 Feel Great About Yourself Regardless of Other People's Opinions About You

When I was an adolescent, I use to be super, super skinny, and obviously, I didn't feel as charming as my friends. My girlfriends were usually older than me, therefore, they body-developed way faster than I did. Of course, they all had boyfriends and I was usually the third wheel. I have a very special old friend whom I love very much; she is like a sister to me. Nevertheless, as we were growing up, she was harsh and browbeating to me and to be honest, my life wasn't easy with her as a friend. I remember her telling me continually: "Ew, you are too skinny, don't you feel nauseated about yourself?" Therefore, I ended up being convinced that being too skinny wasn't a good thing. Surely, I presently regret it, and what I most desire now is to release myself from counting calories all the time! Thankfully, there were always people around me who knew how to guide me so that I could make the best out of those comments and turn them into flattering judgments rather than damaging comments. People who overheard my friend saying those things turned to me to say: "Don't worry, she's only jealous of your body type." And this is how I started learning about jealousy inside people's hearts. I later realized how these sort of circumstances can be easily adapted to other moments in life and to different scenarios; for example: discredit in the workplace, rivalry among friends, competition from my siblings.

“Know that there will be countless times in which people are not going to like what they see in you because they may be holding an inward impediment that blindfolds them.“

Know that there will be countless times when people are not going to like what they see in you because they may be holding an inward impediment that blindfolds them from objectively seeing who you are. For example, later in life I understood that my friend wasn't happy about her body-type; she really wanted to be thin. She despised not being able to wear the outfits she borrowed from my closet that fitted me so flawlessly. This enabled me to learn that to be "in love with me" translated into feeling great about myself, regardless of other people's disapprovals.

#2 I'm In Love With Me Because I Know I Did My Best

“Keep in mind that most of the time, hurtful remarks come from a bruised heart, and they have nothing to do with you but with the person who speaks them.“

I previously mentioned about enduring some professional challenges not too long ago. Some of these difficulties involved situations in which my mistakes where magnified to a point where I ended up feeling truly dumb and incompetent myself. This practice is entirely wrong. We should not allow other people's observations about our performance to affect us in any way. Keep in mind that most of the time, hurtful remarks come from a bruised heart, and they have nothing to do with you but with the person who speaks them.

Don't get me wrong, all these comments can be good areas of improvement as long as you are able to see them as growth opportunities. You can always use your mistakes to learn and grow and strengthen your progress, but never utilize them to define your professionalism, your work, your performance, and much less, your personality.

If I did everything within me to try to achieve the desired results and things didn't go as planned, I should not feel bad about myself. To be in love with me is to proudly accept that I did my best.

#3 Build and Follow Your Own Goals; No Need to Follow Other People's Dreams

I keep it as a friendly reminder to myself that my aspirations in life are the result of who I was raised to be together with the choices I have made. This drives me to the scene from the 2006 film, The Devil Wears Prada, in which Miranda Priestley (Meryl Streep) tells Andy Sacks (Anne Hathaway) the following statement: "Don't be ridiculous, Andrea, everybody wants to be us." and how I don't let this ideology of luxurious life keep me from being who I am.

“To be in love with myself is admitting that the content I am seeing in social media is particularly engaging and enjoyable, yet, it's not quite the lifestyle I aspire to live.“

For instance, as a blogger, when I come across to an influencer Instagram account with 100K+ followers commenting on designer brands, travel liveliness, and luxurious lifestyle posts, I concede that these publications are exciting and appealing to these followers' aspirations. However, I accept and embrace that this lifestyle doesn't quite match my personality. Although they furnish me with a glimpse of an exposed world that I consider as dainty, they really don't harmonize with my goals and dreams. To be in love with myself is admitting that the content I am seeing in social media is particularly engaging and enjoyable, yet, it's not quite the lifestyle I aspire to live.

As a #quadragenarian, I hold different priorities. My preferences in life are based on my upbringing and what my family and I have framed for ourselves. Nevertheless, looking at pleasant beach photos from a beautiful resort is always a delight.

#4 Implement the Necessary Changes to Feel Better

I've heard friends and family fuss consistently about being excessively raced in the mornings. They recount how they fast-drink their coffee and afterward, hasten to fulfill household responsibilities before they leave to work feeling all stressed out. They detest it and yet, they don't do anything about it.

To be in love with yourself is to break these patterns, these old habits, and implement new approaches to feel better. For example, I would think that waking up an hour earlier could make a significant difference. Taking some calm time to drink coffee and actually enjoy it! Hear the a.m. stillness and embrace it. Then take a little time to walk barefoot in your backyard and feel the early morning breeze. Following, in all tranquility, you can start preparing breakfast and getting ready to live your day feeling great about yourself. But seriously, try to calm yourself down. Gift yourself with an extra hour of sleep on the previous night. Go to bed earlier and perhaps your family will follow, too.

To be in love with me is to execute any necessary changes to make myself feel more accomplished and satisfied.

Take a look at my blog post, Small Touches that Make a Big Difference.

#5 Grow. Advance. Risk.

In one of my previous videos I talk about something so simple, yet so impactful. There are numerous people who, because of comfort, convenience, attitude, or simply to keep in their comfort zone, they always wear color black garments. If you think about it, this is a practice that strains you from a lot in your day-to-day.

I encourage these people to start wearing colorful, vivid tones every once in a while. Venturing in small events like these can impact you positively in so many ways. Take a risk! This is what it means to be "in love with me."

Try to discover something new within yourself that you weren't even aware of and that you didn't realize how happy it could make you.

To be "in love with me" is to risk, grow, learn, evolve, advance, and become.

It's my recommendation that from now on, you try to be in love with yourself every day. Breathe in every morning and embrace the new opportunity of life saying: "I am so in love with me" and track the changes. Please, let me know how it goes.