A lesson that I believe everyone should learn, is that if you do not appreciate yourself, no one else will. It is easy to rely on others to make you feel good, when you do not feel good about yourself. And for some time, I’m sure that they will. But there will come a point that people will grow tired of constantly reassuring you about yourself, and you will feel it happen. You can go from person to person looking for reassurance and confidence boosters, but it will never be sufficient until you feel the things that others say.

In order to feel what others say you must feel the same way about yourself. You must know your worth, and that includes both knowing your strengths as well as your faults and weaknesses. It is important to know who you are, it is important to accept yourself, and it is important to appreciate it all.

You may not be happy with who you are today, you may long to be who you were in times past, or long to be someone entirely new in the future. But it is important to understand your current self and how you got to be this person in order to move forward.

I am a strong believer that you must appreciate yourself in all of your forms, whether you are happy with where you are currently or not. It is vital for your growth that you acknowledge your stagnancy or your plateau. It is just as possible to come out of a tough time and become a stronger person as it is to never overcome the hardship at all. The difference between the two is appreciating yourself and believing that you can do it. If you do not believe in yourself, no one else will either. That is your number one duty and responsibility to yourself.