My Self-Appreciation Challenge

Oh man.

Where to start.

I don't know...

It's not because I don't appreciate myself because I do but 10 things? It feels like I'm dividing myself up like a pie chart. Really, I just like me. But the challenge says 10 things so here goes.

You want a piece of me? Here's the first.

1. The most important thing that I love about myself is my positive nature. I always look for the light. That's not to say that I can't be gloomy sometimes, but I am lucky in that that weight doesn't stay. I can usually see a way out and I am a great believer in things working out for the best. I don't know if life is a journey but I trust the tour operator and where I'm being taken.

2. I love my hunger for knowledge and my ability to want to keep learning. You can't teach an old dog new tricks? It might take a little longer but I'm never too tired to learn (except maybe, maths). I'm still seeking and poking and lifting metaphorical stones to see what's under them and feeling that little frisson of excited anticipation as I do. Don't think I don't feel the fear. I do but life has taught me, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Got to try, man. Got to try.

3. This sort of goes with 2. I'm not afraid to embarrass myself. I don't WANT to but it doesn't bother me. N0-one thinks, "I really want to look like a fool today," do they? But if I do, I can pick myself up, laugh at myself and go on my way without anxiety hitching a lift and without being tripped up by the remnants of my self-esteem. This resilience is hard won, mainly on ski slopes and in adolescence but I'm granite now.

4. I still love to dance. If I want to move to music, I will and boy, does it make my spirit hit the clouds. Moving to a song that you really love? That's just divine. I don't even care if people are watching. It's really not that interesting so I'm not sure why they are but if they are, let them get an eyeful.

5. I love my mind and being inside it. I don't want to be anyone else. I'm sometimes envious of the achievements of others and on Vocal, sometimes, I read something and I think, "I wish I'd written that" but then, there's stuff I'm super proud of which would never have come to light and I would not have ownership of if I wasn't me. Do you see what I mean?

6. I make a mean shortbread and it is yummy. Do you know how I know this? Because it disappears really quickly and not just into my tum tum. It's enjoyed by many and this makes me happy. Going to the tin and finding crumbs does not make me so happy. I bake other stuff but shortbread? I've mastered it, or at least, I have in my limited home baking sphere of four people.

7. I have a sense of adventure. I'm never going to be an intrepid explorer but the excitement of visiting new places has never left me and has always been part of me, ever since my first trips as a kid. I want to see things with my own eyes. I want to be my own Instagram thread. I can't ever see this changing.

8. I like making people feel good about themselves. I don't want to bring you down! I want you to be lifted up and if I can do that, whilst remaining true to myself, then I will do it. Compliments, praise, making you laugh, pitching in - I'm like your own personal helium balloon.

9. I like the way that I can cry openly when things move me. I'm a blubber, especially if people are being kind to each other. There's something about it that just makes me fill up and then spill over. Empathy is my super power. Why is it seen as a weakness in our wider world? I love it when something reaches inside me and wrings me out.

You know, I genuinely thought this was going to be hard but now that I've been slicing myself up metaphorically, I can see that there's a lot to this pie, more than just a crust. So, let's wrap this up.

10. My eclectic taste in music. If I was to share my Spotify playlist here, you would see that I have no musical genre preference. Anything is game, musically. This openness permeates everything I am but is especially noticeable in my music taste.

786 words. That's 10 things I appreciate about me. Should I have mentioned my