the heart of a lion.

“I have the HEART OF A LION. And I will LOVE MYSELF… NO MATTER WHAT the world tells me.” Every day for the past week, I’ve been having the girls and I put our hands on our hearts and repeat this to ourselves. It’s inevitable that the negativity of the world will eventually find their sweet little innocent spirits. People’s comments will have them question the way they look, how they think, why they believe what they do—I know I’ve felt all of those things. And sometimes I still feel them every now and then. But if I start while they are still blind to the negativity—while they still have mom in their ear every day, all day telling them how special they truly are—I hope to fill their cups of confidence to the point of overflowing—to where the questioning and doubt is a small moment and not a second thought more.

To give credit where credit is due, I got this idea from a Ted Talk by a woman named Lizz Smoak that you can watch here (starts at 5:22). In it, she talks about self-acceptance and appreciation– for being different and finding confidence in being different. And in going for things that others might not go for because you believe YOU can do it. In every word, I want that for myself and P and our girls. And really for everyone I know. I was talking to someone close to me just yesterday about the importance of the words you say to yourself—that what you say to yourself and about yourself is what you begin to believe. Without sharing too much, this friend’s child is struggling in school and keeps telling his self/herself that they are going to fail. This is not immune to children. Confidence starts the second the baby realizes he or she has to do things on this earth to survive. They need the confidence to take their first steps, and most importantly, to get back up after falling down. I shared the “heart of a lion” mantra with this close person because it was so perfect for the situation. I want to begin the day feeding myself and my children self-love—the best food for the soul. How many of us are starving our souls because we don’t feed ourselves enough of that love? We can be so quick to compliment others and to feed them love but like oxygen on an airplane, we have to put our oxygen mask on first. If you are looking for ways to increase your self-love, I hope you try the “heart of a lion” mantra. I hope you place your hand on your heart and repeat it to yourself every day. And I hope you start to believe it.