Being Thankful for Me

I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about for the Thanksgiving Holiday, and then it hit me. This morning, as I was looking back over the last few months -- and writing in my gratitude journal -- I let out a sigh of relief and said, "I am thankful for you, Marquita." During the holidays, the one person we often forget to share gratitude with and give thanks for is ourselves. Giving thanks to ourselves and nurturing who we are gives us an opportunity to honor ourselves while reflecting on the personal growths that we have made.

Filling My Tank Up

If I'm filling my personal "love tank" up with words of admiration, thank you's, respect and love, I don't feel that I'm missing anything, and I won't need to look for these things outside of myself. I am the source to refer to for my emotional needs, and if my tank is full, I will have no problem helping to fill someone else's up. I will have more compassion and love to give to others.

So I made a list.

An ever evolving, perpetual list, of some things that I'm thankful for about myself:

I'm not perfect, but I'm thankful for my imperfections.

I'm thankful that I realized that I was put here to become aware and heal all the things that my soul wants to heal.

I'm thankful for my awareness; for being so curious about who I am and why I do the things that I do.

I'm thankful for striving to be a better person for myself, for others, and for this planet.

I'm thankful for my strength and perseverance.

I'm thankful for my growth and for standing in my truth

I'm thankful for recognizing my worth (I am a beautiful, loving being that deserves kindness, respect, dignity, and love; as do we all).

I'm thankful for learning the lesson of seeing others in the same light as I see myself (this helps when I drive in NYC traffic).

I'm thankful that I recognize that I am a compassionate, Mother, Friend, and Sister.

I'm thankful for the challenges that helped shape and mold me into who I am becoming.

I'm thankful for seeing myself through others so that I can become aware of the things that I need to work on.

I'm thankful for learning to accept myself as I am.

I'm thankful that I have learned to nurture myself without guilt.

I'm thankful that I have found my voice and am continuing to discover what it sounds like.

I'm thankful that I am strong enough now to use my voice to help myself and others.

I'm thankful that I'm able to say no when I want to say no and yes when I want to say yes (Freedom).

I'm thankful for learning to accept my flaws and all (this was a tough one).

I'm thankful for being open to receiving.

I'm thankful for the times that I fall and slip back into old patterns and behaviors. I know that doing this shows me what is still present and needs to be worked on.

I'm thankful that I have learned to say no to that third chocolate salted caramel from Matisse Chocolates (So. Good.).

I encourage you to embrace and honor yourselves this Holiday. Don't be scared. It's ok to profess your love of yourself. Somewhere we picked up the lesson that it's not ok to "big up" our beautiful selves. There is a way to do it in love and light, without diminishing the light of others. Try it out.

And this is How I Grew Today.

Happy Thanksgiving,

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.