Are You Grateful To Yourself?

When Amita invited me to be one of the speakers for the Vitals Retreat for women physicians, I was very excited for the opportunity and said yes. During the retreat, I shared how gratitude could create transformation. When I asked the audience if they were grateful to themselves, there was a sudden shift in the room.

There was the silent atmosphere of “I did not think of that”. Most people understand that it is important and beneficial to be grateful. Grateful for people. Grateful for events or things. That moment of silence and the facial expressions I captured showed it all – most people did not think about gratitude to themselves or for themselves.

It is easy to keep doing the tasks and everyday activities without appreciating ourselves. We believe that when we do something we planned to do, that is a given. That is the way it is supposed to be. On the other hand, when something done by you did not go as planned, you take no time to blame yourself. You question your ability, your performance, and even you as a person.

It is important to appreciate yourself. How does it feel when someone is grateful to you and grateful for what you did? Sure, we are worthy no matter what. We are worthy even without any external validation. Yet it is a wonderful feeling when someone acknowledges your work and effort. The external validation is a bonus. It also enhances connection.

When you appreciate yourself, you acknowledge your accomplishment. You appreciate what you do. You value who you are. You are your biggest fan and ally. Being grateful to yourself is to value yourself, support yourself, even though that does not change how worthy you are. Being grateful to yourself is an expression of self-love. You love yourself and you are supportive of your opinions, your emotions and your actions. Being grateful to yourself elevates your self-confidence. You have your own back.

I am grateful to myself, grateful for making the decision to attend the Vitals Retreat. Despite of the inconvenience of having to switch my on-call weekend, I made it work. I am grateful to myself that, when I decided to make new (in-person) connections and reconnect with old ones. I am grateful for my willingness to connect with other attendees by talking to them. Although an introvert, I value connections - it is just less draining when the connection is made with fewer people at a time.

The more you seek, the more you find things to be grateful for within you. When we credit ourselves for who we are or what we do, we develop a bigger capacity to appreciate others. We are building muscles to face life’s challenges in a more tolerable fashion. We are less likely to feel overwhelmed as it is easier to accept and deal with the adverse situations which we have no control of.

To be grateful to yourself is not usually a natural thing to practice. It is an intentional exercise which enhances your self-confidence, self-worth and self-confidence. I invite you to look at yourself. I invite you to be grateful to yourself every