Last month on April Fool's Day, you may have let your cheeky or mischievous inner child out to play, playing jokes and tricks on others. My husband surpassed himself this year with a trick that completely threw me! So this month I thought I would let my inner child play and see what happened.
Let's start with Pom Poms. If you're a bit confused read on!
Do you wave your Pom Poms for yourself?
Do you acknowledge and celebrate who you are and your achievements?
Do you reward yourself with what you love?
This is a very important part of life as we grow up. We now see it so much more in our schools (much more than I remember in my day!) because it works. Children are happier, more motivated and more productive when they are encouraged, supported and appreciated. It's a fact, children thrive through praise, rewards and celebrations. As adults, we are often so busy juggling all the tasks on our lists (mental and otherwise), our roles, responsibilities and obligations, that we forget to fulfil this very important need for ourselves.
You are probably great at praising and encouraging others, but what about you?
You are important in your life and you deserve your own praise. Yes, you read that correctly. YOU DESERVE IT!
Sit back and imagine yourself jumping for joy, madly waving your pom poms and giving yourself a sumptuous or exquisite treat, just because you're you. No conditions, no judgements, just pure encouragement and appreciation. What would that look like for you? Are you beginning to feel it?
You take care of others, you give a lot of yourself, you always do your best and frankly you care deeply. That's just the start. You MAKE A DIFFERENCE. I hope you can see that you are AMAZING!! So get waving your Pom Poms and start acknowledging and celebrating all the ways that the world is a better place because you are in it. Not feeling it yet?
Imagine all the lives that you have touched in your lifetime and how different it would have been if you weren't there. This could take a while. You will really start to enjoy this bit!
How does it feel?
Can you feel your body start to tingle or feel a warm comforting flush?
Right now, if you are feeling it, you are changing your physiology. You are changing the chemicals flowing through your body and the functioning of your cells.
I told you you are amazing. I hope that just proved it for you if you were doubting that fact.
If you are finding this difficult and praising yourself doesn't come naturally, that's okay. There are so many in the same boat.
I could never praise myself. It wasn't even on my radar. In fact, I told myself the exact opposite. I told myself I wasn't good enough or smart enough, that I had to be perfect. These used to run through my head constantly, so I definitely didn't deserve my own praise. I'm so glad that has changed for me because these thoughts held me back in life. They stopped me doing the things I really wanted. They kept me in the background, as I helped others move forward in their lives and they filled me with a stress and pressure that was never ending. But it doesn't have to be this way and actually, truth be told, I had no idea what was happening. All I knew was that I was driven to push myself beyond my limits, to people please, to try to be perfect all the time.
By the way, for all the perfectionists out there, that's an impossible task if you believe you are not good enough and it doesn't feel good. If I didn't get praised or acknowledged by others I simply had to try harder until I did. It made me dependent on others for appreciation and validation so I would feel better about myself. Does this resonate with you?
Well luckily, I unravelled it for myself and now don't judge myself in that way. In fact, I try not to judge myself at all. Occasionally it still does come up just a little, but I catch it straight away and start waving my pom poms for myself and I'm back to feeling happy, content and warm inside.
I hope you enjoyed playing with Pom Poms and are thinking of fantastic ways to reward yourself just for being you. It's there inside of you whenever you need it - you just need to look.
Hold on to your hats for part 2 as we will be talking MAGIC!
Excitedly Waving my Pom Poms With You.