Show Up for Yourself

Because only you can.

The mere act of showing up for yourself each day will begin to shift the world in your favor.

— Molly M. Cantrell-Kraig

In a world of ravaging unconsciousness and lack of intention, would it be too much to ask that you give yourself a little sanity? In a universe where people prefer to think more about how they are seen than about who they really are, would it be too ridiculous to take some time to actually see you?

Every day, we are more concerned about what we want to become, about how we want people to see us, what we want people to do for us, that we don't even stop to think about how we should see ourselves, what we should say to ourselves, and what we should do for ourselves.

We have a lot of aspirations, but we stab those aspirations in the heart to pursue what we think people think we should be. Many of us have been living our lives without truly showing up for ourselves. We are living the lives of other people, because we don't want to hurt them, or let them leave us.

What does it look like to show up for yourself? I'll tell you. It's not that difficult. Showing up for yourself is simply constantly choosing what is best for you in the present moment, and in the moments to come. It is constantly choosing right, in spite of what other people think you should choose.

Showing up for yourself means doing exactly that which you have planned to do to make yourself better, regardless of how you feel in the moment, regardless of how other people feel about it, regardless of what is in vogue. Showing up for yourself is saying no to the things that hinder the growth and stride that you have planned to make.

Showing up for yourself is staying away from people who act as vaccums and drain your energy. It is constantly choosing to be with people that inspire you and saying no to a friendship with people that consume your energy. There are people who we spend time with that charge our batteries, and there are people we spend time with that drain our batteries. Showing up for yourself means choosing chargers instead of drainers.

Showing up for yourself is waking up early, ahead of everyone else, to take one more step towards your growth, your goals and aspirations. It is hitting the gym regularly to get your desired physical shape. It is sleeping early because you know that it helps you be more productive the next day. It is eating the right things and eating them at the right time.

Showing up for yourself is choosing carefully planned, intentional action over inaction and indecision. It is learning new things, doing everything you can to stay relevant in our world today. It is going where you are needed, where you can add value, not where you'll waste your present.

Showing up for yourself is doing all the things that your friends don't even find fashionable as long as they'd help you grow. It is replacing your friends with people who love the things you love, who'd inspire you and push you to achieve your goals.

Showing up for yourself is loving yourself, knowing how you want to be loved, and choosing those who love you the way you want to be loved, who speak to you the way you want to be spoken to, who treat you the way you want to be treated.

Showing up for yourself is doing good work. Doing the very best you can with all that you have, and doing it with all your might. It is practicing the discipline to be consistent in all that you do, to choose right, to go in spite of the hurdles, to be grateful for the mountains you get to climb, and enjoying the process every step of the way.

Overall, showing up for yourself is choosing right, and knowing that at the end of the day, it is all you. The rewards, the consequences, it is all you.

This week, show up for yourself. If there's anyone who deserves to be loved and feel loved, it is you. When the world is working tirelessly to tear itself apart, it only makes sense to try to put a little piece of it back together. That piece is you.

To your growth,

Abiola Okunsanya

Handzinspired. ✨