My Valentine, I Pick ME!

by Kris Pitcher

LOVE is in the air! But love shouldn't only come one day a year...one big, red, commercial day! When I think about it, it's a good reminder to take care of those around you and also yourself.

I keep my ears perked around me and I hear a lot of dismissed compliments and even more personal cut downs. So today I'm reminding you to be your own valentine. Give yourself some love! Start by accepting a compliment.

"Thanks but..." and that's when you go into the laundry list of why you don't deserve the compliment. Just stop at, "Thanks." When you compliment someone, you don't want your compliment handed back to you. Neither do the people sending compliments your way. They want you to keep them.

You deserve them! It feels good to take them. Try it. The other thing I hear so much of is everyone cutting themselves apart, compartmentalizing, and outright talking negatively about themselves (and their body parts!).

Stop that! This is just a bad habit. It feeds your self-loathing and poor body image. Why would you continue to do that? Be your own valentine and show yourself some love here. If you start with something, well, you've got...something!

What DO you like about yourself, or your body? Recognize one thing, maybe there are more. It's perfectly fine not to be 100% satisfied with everything in your life. That's normal. But broadcasting it and reinforcing it verbally to yourself and the world isn't the way to improve it.

Want to work on it? Great! Work on it. Set some goals and go for it. This week I'm tired. I've caught myself loathing about it several times. Then I decided to stop being a big crybaby! It's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Sure, I had some travel, nights away from home...lost some sleep. Guess what? I'll be FINE. I adjusted my schedule so I could get enough sleep, I am making sure I get my water and my BCAAs in, and I'm eating all my clean meals. I'm getting right on track! No one wants to hear a complainer.

So stop complaining about all your parts. Begin to love yourself, just a little. Turn your perspective to the positive. It's all your choice whether you are your own valentine or not. I pick ME! And you should pick YOU!