The Positive Beauty Pledge's Guide to Staying Positive (Part One)

With being away last week, there isn't a Beauty Pledge this week, so I decided to do something a little bit different, to try and inspire more positivity, because I know that a lot of people (myself very much included) find it incredibly difficult to remain positive, about every aspect of our lives. So, here is Part One of my guide to staying positive in self-image and in life.

One. Remember the quote:

"We are more often loved for our faults, than we are for our qualities."

Absolutely no one is perfect, and our "defects" are what make us unique from everyone else. We all need to learn to love (or at least accept) that we all have faults because they are not going anywhere.

For a true example of this, you should read the Toni Jordan Book; Addition. Addition is the story of Grace: a young woman suffering from OCD, and has to count absolutely everything in her life, from how many pieces of fruit are on top of her cake, to how many steps it takes to reach her front door. The counting, is quite literally controlling every single tiny aspect of her life.

As Grace's life starts to spiral a little the wrong way, she takes the bold stop to try and tackle her "defect" using medication, and as a result of these drugs, Grace becomes "normal".

But, being "normal" forces Grace to realise that this isn't who she really is, and she feels as if she has lost an important part of the person that she is truly happy to be.

So, think about one thing that you dislike about yourself, and now try to imagine what your life would be like if it was really gone. You might think that you'd be happier, but is that apparent "defect" just something that contributes to the amazing person that you are? I think so.

Two. Learn to take a compliment.

It's sometimes hard to distinguish whether a compliment is said with good intention or not, because well, some people are just not very nice at all. The solution? Always say "Thank you!"

Saying "thank you" probably sounds absurd, but even if they are taking the mick out of you, it will throw them off-guard, because they won't be expecting it. And saying it in either situation just exudes in confidence, and we all know that confidence is the key to feeling beautiful.

Just see these two simple words as your way of defeating the bullies, by showing them that they can't hurt you, no matter what they try to do or say.

It doesn't matter if, at the time, you don't mean them, because so many of us find it really difficult to accept a compliment as a nice thing, but saying those words will do amazing things for your confidence.

To be continued....

If you're interested in taking the Positive Beauty Pledge, or would like a write a guest post about Positivity, then throw me an email or message me on Twitter (@KittyFairy).