Today is all about self-appreciation and confidence-boosting. Your angel has noticed that you don’t give enough credit for your hard work so far and has brought it upon themselves to do so on your behalf. Being thankful for yourself is a good practice of self-care and meditation, and it can eventually lead the way to spirituality.

The Universe has abounded your soul with virtuous nutrients. Do a positive introspection on yourself and notice the abundance of goodwill and achievements rippling from your being. It’s sometimes difficult to recognize our contributions during the moment, but today is the perfect time for it. Don’t be surprised to discover how much of yourself you can be proud of.

Why is it difficult to give ourselves credit though?

Somehow, it’s much easier for you to praise others than yourself, right? You can easily list down all of their achievements and good traits and come up with no less than five pages. But for some reason, it’s nigh impossible to do the same for yourself without descending into negativity and compromising your virtues, if you can even call them that. Why is this the case? Well, it’s because you’re standing on the inside looking out.

When you list down the achievements and good traits of your friend, you simply list down what you see as an outsider, the result. You never saw the efforts behind them: the sleepless hours behind that finished painting, the unhealthy habits they underwent, the discipline to stay in one place, the disappointment, the stress, etc. The point is people are more complicated than they seem, and they like to focus on their flaws than their successes. 

It’s impossible to see it from your perspective. If you give them your list, they’ll surely erase enough to dwindle the pages to one. It’s an all-pervading habit for everyone, yourself included. Switch the perspective and you’ll understand why self-credit is hard to give. 

Flaws act as a mist heavy enough to cover one’s achievements. When you do a certain act, you’ve felt for yourself the strenuous effort behind them. You lived with those emotions; you’ve felt them when happened. And they stay long enough to derive you from traits you can be happy about, long enough to make you believe that perhaps those traits ARE you. So when you try to combat your flaws, it feels as if you’re trying to fight who you are, a bad person.

And this is exactly the kind of mindset that your angel wants to improve. It destroys your confidence, appreciation, and your ability to regain both of them. Self-esteem is an unstable quality in people. Lowering it makes you lose motivation. So what can you do to avoid this downward spiral? 

Give credit TO yourself FOR yourself

The reason why you can’t see your good traits is that you focus entirely on the mist, on your flaws. That’s it. You stay within that mist and believe that it’s the only thing that matters. No, you need to take a step; go through any direction but just take a step---follow the small voice whispering so. Beyond that mist is your angel, gesturing to the abundance of virtues lurking within you. They existed, unnoticed, until this moment.

You are made up of both positive and negative traits, and rather than be obsessed with what you lack, be proud of what you are, how you’ve grown, and what you can still achieve. Life isn’t just about the past. You have two things to boast about: your present self that’s brimming with fortitude, and your future self that’s overflowing with potential.

A good practice of self-recognition is to see everything in a positive mindset, even your shortcomings. Give credit to your flaws because they encouraged you to grow. Give credit to your efforts because they’re the stairs to your achievement. Give credit to your kindness because it allows you to see the beauty of everyone and everything around you. Give credit to your skills because they showed the way to your passion. Give credit to your shyness because it paved the way for humility. Give credit to your confidence because it pushed you to your goals. Most importantly, give credit to your hard work for making it this far.

Your angel is blessing you with the power of self-compassion. When you give credit for yourself, you break the standards that hinder your ability to see past mistakes. You promote growth and recognize the fight against the version you didn’t want to be. That, by itself, already makes you deserving of a reward. 

Give credit to yourself the same as you would to others

Go back to the instance before, where you gave your friend more than five pages of praises for all their achievements. This time, visualize the effort exerted behind them and the emotions that were felt in the course of it. Now do the same for yourself. Make a list of all your hard-fought battles and what you’ve gained as a result. Don’t be ashamed to write down that you’ve almost given up during that one time. Remember, it’s not important that you fell, it’s important that you stood up.

A positive mindset changes almost everything. People have the inherent tendency to underestimate themselves if they’re not careful. That’s why it’s essential to keep an ear out for your angel’s guidance and maintain a sense of awareness for your thoughts---that’s what your list is for. In general, just be easier on yourself. It may have been the norm for you at the time, but if you look back at it now, it was quite the achievement, wasn’t it? 

It’s easy to dismiss that small chunk of headway in your project or that common sense kindness you gave to a friend, but don’t forget, even a 5% progress is still progress, and the smallest act of kindness can save a person’s life. Reinforce this mantra again and again until even the smallest thing about yourself makes you grateful. If you need help, your angel actually has their own list of your achievements and good traits, and they’re ready to whip it out whenever.