Learning, Love & Laughter

Learning, Love and Laughter are all essential parts of life that feed our hearts and souls, make us happy, contribute to our sense of well-being and of course our self-confidence.

Let me explain my thoughts on how …

LEARNING

I believe that as humans we are always learning. We never stop! There are lessons in everything that happens in our life. We just need to look out for them, be aware of them, understand them, and thoughtfully apply them in the future. This quote is one that I came across recently, which provides a few examples of where we can find lessons in things that might happen to us during our day-to-day lives.

I also believe in actively seeking learning opportunities, particularly for an activity or subject that is something we are interested in or have a passion in.

How does learning help build self-confidence?

Well, if you find stuff you’re interested in and passionate about, then it’s highly likely it will be something that you’re good at. Recognising what you’re good at and trying to build on those things can be a really useful way of building confidence in your own abilities. If you learn more about your interest and/or passion, then your confidence in your abilities will grow and strengthen. You are also likely to be in contact with like-minded people who will validate your strengths and abilities as well as provide valuable social interaction and further learning opportunities.

As for the day to day learnings, each of them make us wiser, stronger and more resilient!  That can only be a good thing when it comes to self-confidence! 🙂

LOVE

There are many aspects to the concept of love that will help with our self-confidence.

1. Self-Love.  Self Love is important for self-esteem. Self-esteem refers to a person’s beliefs about their own worth and value. It also has to do with the feelings people experience that follow from their sense of worthiness or unworthiness. Self-esteem is important because it heavily influences people’s choices and decisions.

Start to self-love by:

• Recognising and stopping any negative thinking and replace it with positive affirmations. (eg replace “I’m never going to succeed. I’m useless” with “I will succeed because I am worthy and have much to offer”)
• Know that it really doesn’t matter what other people think of you. It is far more important what you think of you.
• Visualize your confident self and start acting that way
• List your strengths and be proud of them. Take the focus away from what you consider to be your weaknesses.

2. In-Love.  If you’re fortunate enough to be ‘In Love’ then you have many positive things going your way. Being in love means you have a partner who loves you and thinks you are the bees knees. You will be hearing positive things about yourself often and will also have the joy of making the one you love happy. You will be flooded with feel good endorphins. Your body will be releasing euphoria-inducing chemicals such as dopamine, oxytocin, adrenaline and vasopressin. These not only feel great – giving you butterflies and a fluttering heart – but they are great for stress relief. Being in love is a little addictive though, so be mindful and careful to not lose yourself in it – but enjoy! 🙂

3. Family Love (spouse, family & good friends).  If everything is as it should be, this kind of love is unconditional, stable and consistent love and support that is always there. These people accept you as you are, flaws and all. They love you no matter what.  They are your ever-present safety net.

So how does Love help Self-Confidence?

Well it goes without saying that having people around you who love you, believe in you, and support you, will strengthen your self-confidence. I believe in keeping those who lift you up close and those that bring you down far away.

LAUGHTER

There are many, many benefits to laughter. Here are just a few: Laughter helps build resilience – helping us to manage and focus better when times are tough. Laughter is contagious so it not only lifts our spirits but those of people around us.  Laughter decreases stress and triggers the release of endorphins – the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. These chemicals boost the immune responses and very importantly – endorphins create a positive state of mind and boost optimism, self-confidence and feelings of self-worth.

+++

I hope that you have plenty of Learning, Love and Laughter in your life!

This post is part of a 14 ways to help rebuild self-confidence series.  We are working our way through the letters of SELF CONFIDENCE – this week’s focus being on the L. Previously we have covered Self Compassion & Self Care and 10 Ways to Enjoy your Life. The next post topic in the series will be:  Find your passion & your happy place/s.

Ciao for now,

Linking up with With Some Grace for #FYBF
&
Sonia of Life Love & Hiccups & Zoe of A Quirky Bird for #WeekendRewind