Give Yourself Props Today (And Always)

With the last post of the National Health Blog Post Challenge, I think it's a great topic that everyone should write or just say out loud. I don't think we "toot our own horn" as much as we should. It's like we have become desensitized to saying that what we have accomplished isn't good enough to tell the world.

That's why we have bullying. Somewhere along the line, someone didn't tell them they were good enough or didn't speak up for themselves. I think it's OK to stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for yourselves and to those bullies—tell someone. Stand up for that job you just landed or project you just finished. Stand up and maybe others will too.

So for this post, here are three (or maybe a few more) things that I am proud to say that I am:
1. I'm a loving and caring wife, daughter, sister and friend
2. I'm healthy, motivated, intelligent and confident
3. My faith keeps me strong

I like to always think that others see myself the way I do. That's where I always try to be best wife, daughter, sister and friend I can be to the people in my life. If you love yourself first, it's so much easier for people to love that person too. It was hard to believe that when I'm living with psoriasis. A disease that can be detrimental to your health and depressing if not handled that right way. I'm really a strong believer that it takes confidence to get anywhere in life. Especially if you are diagnosed with something you can't help.

When my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer, it was her confidence, strong faith and take on life that I think really helped in her recovery. She wrote about her experiences and was always confident that she was going to make it through. Same thing when my dad had a triple by-pass. The doctors told him not to drive at least a month after the surgery. But if you know my 76 year always-on-the-go father, that wasn't going to stop him. He was in the drivers seat about 3 weeks after his surgery and still hasn't stopped going. Hell, he even wants to go to Colorado in Jan and ski. My parents amaze me.

That's the kind of life I want to continue to life. I credit my parents with the confidence and strong faith I have today. The things that get me through the good and bad days. Living with psoriasis was really hard at first. It still is some days. But what I try to get across to my NPF mentee's is that if they understand the disease themselves, feel confident and want to tell more people about how it makes them feel—then that's the first step in the healing process. Stress is a big trigger of psoriasis—so any where to alleviate any of that stress in my life then I'm all for it. Writing helps a lot too. Don't write for anyone else. Write for yourself. Still not confident enough to publish a blog? No worries. Keep a journal of how you feel each day and you'll see getting it out someway is more helpful than you can imagine.

On this last day of the challenge and going into the first day of December, I challenge everyone to really dig deep and find what you are proud of. Get your girlfriends together over wine and cheese, go around the table and talk about what you like about yourselves. It's OK to brag. No judgement here ladies (and gents—who ever is confident enough to take on the challenge). Or gather your family and kids and ask them the same question. It's important to instill confidence in everyone we know. Make sure we do it the right way and we can start making this world a better place one person at a time.

This post was written as part of NHBPM – 30 health posts in 30 days: http://bit.ly/vU0g9J