What I Like About Me

But making a list of things you like about yourself feels right to me. It gives you the opportunity to focus on yourself for a bit. Consider yourself and your life. Seek out those rays of sunshine. It also exists as a permanent record for those days when you’re not feeling especially fantastic.

If you share the list online, it still might make some readers think that you’re bragging, but if you write to please everyone, then you write to please no one. First, we write to please ourselves, then, if we’re lucky, others will like it, too.I like Heather’s idea. I hope you do, too. I also think it’s important because in Heather’s own words:”This is very hard for me because I don’t usually think about myself in favorable terms.”I think this sentiment is more pervasive than we think. For a multitude of unfortunate and terrible reasons, human beings often have an unjustifiably negative view of themselves. A lot of this, I suspect, has something to do with the way our prehistoric brains are trained to remember the negative far better than the positive.

In a hunter/gatherer society, where predators and starvation constantly threaten your existence, remembering what might kill you is critical to avoid being killed. But in today’s far less dangerous world filled with doors and Doritos, we don’t need to emphasize the negative so much anymore. Sadly, our ancient brains still do.

Cultivating positivity, optimism, and feelings of self-worth is important.

I think Heather’s idea does this well.

Duly inspired by Heather’s list, which you should read, I offer mine. Even better than reading mine, though, take a few minutes (or, like me, a few days) to make one of your own. When I finally finished mine, I felt pretty good about myself. Better than when I had started.We all deserve to feel good about ourselves. Every day, if possible. Make a list of things you like about yourself and perhaps feel far better about yourself than when you started.

What I Like About Me

1. I married Elysha.
2. I’ve never used an emoji.
3. I’ve performed stand-up comedy and made audiences laugh.
4. I’ve published six novels and two books of nonfiction.
5. My children think I’m fun, crazy, ridiculous, dangerous, and hilarious.
6. I rarely experience stress.
7. I can hold my breath for an exceedingly long time.
8. I’ve never experimented with or used an illegal drug.
9. I’ve been teaching elementary school for 24 years.
10. I put myself through college.
11. I’ve written musicals, comic books, and magazine columns.
12. My cholesterol is low and my recent calcium score was 0.
13. I’ve won 57 Moth StorySLAMs and 9 Moth GrandSLAM championships.
14. I putt well.
15. My cats really love me.
16. I have many excellent friends.