How do you serve your value and worth?

For too many years I thought it was love from me for others that I ignored myself.

My first yes for myself looked like a timeout from some of my friendships.

And it felt really hard, like I felt a physical pain.

My big yes for myself meant moving to another country for my husband and my two kids.

It was a result of several years of fight with myself to understand that my needs and personal dreams mattered.

How do you serve your value and worth?

What do you do to start the change if you stand in the corner of your life and give all the space for others and none for yourself?

Here are ways to process your way forward that have worked for me.

Take yourself to peace and quiet, even if it's just a few minutes, an hour or two or more.

Pay attention to those thoughts you've been thinking, little wishes or big.

When you train your inner radar, you can grow in paying attention to the small inner voice.

You may find that perhaps it's been pressed down for too long, and it's really quiet and shy.

And that's okay.

Patience leads you a long way with yourself.

When you pay attention to your own wishes and personal dreams, you actually serve your own value and worth.

You show yourself the example, that it matters what you think and feel, what you wish and dream.

Along the way, as you learn to know yourself more in this new light, take others with you.

Start with someone you trust and share with them.

Don't let it frighten you if they're really surprised.

You finding new layers of yourself in new seasons is a beautiful thing.

Don't let the objections take you down too easily, either.

If someone starts talking about the obstacles, be wise to guard your treasures.

Focus on finding the person who can cheer you on but who has actually done it, what you're exploring.

Seek wisdom and prepare yourself with the loved ones around you.

What happened with the timeout from my friends, you may wonder.

It ended up strengthening my friendships that carried on.

And together with my friends we were able to enjoy the healthier version of me and how that affected our connection.

And what about my big yes and moving to another country just for my dream?

My family supported me in my dream to study further and we moved as a family to Sweden, while we sought solutions for the daily life of each of us for that time and no one complained.

We formed even more of a team as a family, than before, during that time we lived in Lund, in Southern Sweden.

All this is to say, that you never know what beauty is waiting for you, when you stay true to who you are and who you are growing to become.

Except when you take the small firm steps forward. 

What do you believe is your value and worth?

What step will you take today, dear?