Hey Friends! If you are not following us on instagram, I encourage you to do so @theholistichealthnut. Today is the last day of our twelve days of self exploration series on instagram. I initially had this idea to explore the ins and outs of what makes me who I am as I saw the urgency to really heal from old unhealthy patterns. This need became more urgent as my birthday came around. I celebrated 25 years last week. Yay! Anyway, I decided to share the experience with you all on instagram. It was a series of daily prompts taking us to the foundation of who we are. A number of you shared your responses to the prompts as wells as private DMS and I am glad we could talk.
To wrap up this series, I would like to leave you with these words:
" You have everything you need inside of you that you seek in others"
I was watching one of my favorite Jamaican YouTube vloggers and he mentioned those words and they really resonated with me. One of the reasons why we show up in relationships the way we do is because we are looking for a particular thing in the person. This can get very tricky because if the person leaves or doesn't provide what we are searching for, it can impact us negatively. So, for the sake of our relationships and ourselves, self awareness should be something we all work to achieve. I always talk about reconnecting with our bodies (in terms of nourishment and physical activity) by listening to it. I want to also pose that we be intentional about understanding ourselves mentally and by extension, emotionally. We'll be glad we did. You have all you need inside of you, because God is inside of you.
Taking the time to look deep within ourselves and healing is not glamorous work. It's hard, excruciating and sometimes scary. However, if you are willing to endure, you'll find that it is also very rewarding. It takes guts to really face ourselves and do the work to let go of our destructive behaviors and tendencies.
One of the things I really like about this generation is that we don't shy away from doing the work to heal ourselves. Imagine the breakthrough that will result for future generations as a result of our collective internal work?
Additionally, allowing God to guide us in this healing is very important. He created us and he knows us more than we know ourselves. So whenever you journal ask him to reveal answers to you, ask him to show you how to heal. Scratch that, ask Him to heal you.
This introspection, for me, became unavoidable when quarantine started. I started online classes to complete my degree. That soon ended and now I really had to face myself. There were no more assignments to complete, no lectures to attend, no friends around to hang out with, because quarantine. So it was me, myself and God. I started diving into things I didn't have the time for pre quarantine. I found new hobbies, discovered new talents and started to realize things about myself that I wasn't aware of previously. It's funny how much we can learn when they noise is cancelled and solitude prevails. Don't underestimate the power of a little solitude. I recall a few years ago during a therapy session, I was explaining a realization to my therapist and she said that I am very self aware. I think at some level we all are. We just have to be intentional in paying attention to ourselves.
Being self aware is very important because it means we can start to take responsibility for our actions and thoughts etc. It prevents us from projecting things unto others and allows us to own our truths and figure out how to move forward. Imagine how healthy all our relationships would be if we took the time to understand ourselves. I think self awareness is one of the highest levels of intimacy we can have with ourselves. We have to live with ourselves, so knowing ourselves is necessary. Think of it this way, only a mother can really know what her baby needs because she spends the most time with the child. She knows the various mannerisms they exhibit and therefore she knows what the baby needs, how and when they need it. Same goes for us. We spend the most time with ourselves, so we should know ourselves better than anyone else. This quarantine experience has provided the space for each of us to explore who we are, without the input of others. This is imperative because it can be common for us to internalize the opinions of others (no matter how misguided) about who we are. The only one who gets to tell us who we are is God because he created us in his image and He knows us completely. He knows our past, present and future. To top it all off, He knows all of this and He LOVES us.
I hope you all were able to benefit from this series in some way and I welcome your DMs and messages. Don't forget follow us on instagram @theholistichealthnut .
If you missed the series, here is the list of writing prompts for the 12 days:
1. How do I see myself?
2. What do I like about myself?
3. What do I dislike about myself?
4. What are my weaknesses?
5. What are my strengths?
6. What are my values?
7. How can I use my voice to speak up for the things I value?
8. How do I show up in my relationships?
9. How do I show up for myself?
10. What are my boundaries?
11. Describe a pivotal relationship in your life. (one that inspired either a positive or negative change in your life)
12. Write a letter to your younger self detailing what you've learned about yourself looking back as well as in the present.
All of these questions are geared at our character, personality traits and emotions. I encourage you to answer the questions with this in mind.
I hope you take the time to go through each of these prompts in your journals and even come up with more questions to answer. The journey is ongoing.
Wishing you holistic health,
TheHolisticHealthNut
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