College is a crazy-awesome-confusing time. It’s like the middle school of your adulthood. You are no longer in high school and yet, you are not completely on your own either. It’s the awkward in between and we are all trying to navigate it, so that is why this is no time for you to start hating on yourself!
Loving who you are.
Loving who you are is a habit; it’s not something that people are naturally able to do. This is an acquired skill which, like all of the other good habits you aim to acquire, take time and effort in order to become the norm in your life. If you are constantly telling yourself negative things and putting yourself down, you will never be able to see how friggin amazing you are!
Loving who you are does not happen overnight; It’s one of the things that human beings can be extremely bad at, but those who have gained a certain, “content” attitude about themselves are the ones who are constantly working on loving the person they see in the mirror.
You are your own cheerleader.
You have just left an environment where you had family, friends, and a sense of belonging. Now in college, everything that was familiar to you, and everyone in your life whom you’ve relied on are suddenly far away, and you have to rebuild a network of support from scratch. It can get pretty discouraging trying to figure out where exactly you fit, and you might be on your own for a little while, but this is a good thing believe it or not. You are the one who has to pick yourself up, motivate yourself, and there is no better place than college to learn this, because this is the basis for how you should be living life from here on out.
Which leads into my next point:
Being your own Leslie Knope to your Ann Perkins.
You will have your ups and downs with friendships in college. Freshmen year is especially messy simply because no one knows anyone and everyone is trying to find people they can rely on and be themselves with. Some people have better luck with it than others. But regardless, you need to be your own best friend through it all. Taking care of yourself, encouraging yourself, and believing in yourself are of the utmost importance. Need a good example of how you should be treating yourself? Channeling your inner Leslie Knope to Ann Perkins relationship is detrimental.
And last, but certainly not least, you have to keep reminding yourself that....
You are so friggin WORTHY of every-little-thing.
I am not worthy of success; I am not worthy of friendship; I do not deserve happiness; I am not good enough; I am not worthy of love; I am not smart enough; The list of negative things you can say about yourself are endless, destructive, and unhealthy. Yet we all still have these thoughts, whether they are constantly present, or temporary insecurities that flutter in and out of our minds.
In college, just like any new environment, when you are feeling vulnerable, and are on your own, these negative thoughts may seem to be taking up all the space in your head. They are hurtful, and they are 100% not true! Every time a negative thought comes into your mind you have to fight it; you have to say:
I am worthy of success; I am worthy of friendship; I do deserve happiness; I am good enough; I am worthy of love; and I am smart enough! You cannot let the negative thoughts win. You have to tame them so that they wont hinder the positive relationship you are building with yourself.
