Woot Woot! *heart confetti*

Goood morning everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR! 

Ugh, finally! ما بغينا

I’m having an AWESOME start to this year. *dances*, you?

First, I’d like to wish you all a year filled with boundless joy, abundant happiness and countless moments of… *drum roll* please… SELF-DEVELOPMENT. (yup, we’re still at it!)

Let us embrace the opportunities that lie ahead, uncover new facets of ourselves and explore the depths of our potential. If there’s one thing I’m taking with me from last year, it’s that we are multidimensional creatures, our ability to mentally shape-shift is extremely powerful and exceptionally magical. 

Here’s to a year brimming with laughter, love and the beautiful surprises our selves have in store. 

For the past few days, I’ve been contemplating changing the course of this blog, a fresh start, if you will. I’ve had a few ideas… Movie reviews, book reviews, short stories, poetry… and so forth.

But I realized that no, I am not done with the journey we started last year, it felt wrong cutting it short. Personal development/discovery is an ongoing journey that I think we could never ever be done with, and I’m in love with that idea. I’m not saying I wouldn’t do my reviews, I’m just accepting that as I naturally do, I’ll always find ways to relate human struggles (I’ll find a different word) to these movies/books and find the lessons within them. 

With that being said, our first topic of this year is… Accepting Compliments. 

I was with my brother on the phone yesterday, just finished doing something for him. He thanked me, I talked over him, he thanked me again, I opened another subject… it is only on his fourth thank you that I surrendered and said “you’re welcome! Bye”. 

Compliments… praise… thank yous, all make me quite uncomfortable. It is something that I was aware of but never dared to change. Selfishly, I always thought it was a good thing, meaning I am humble, (it’s cute!). 

Last year, however, a dear friend of mine took note and made it their life mission to prevent me from deflecting any compliments that come my way. They not only challenged me to face this discomfort head-on, but kept reminding me, time and time again, to embrace them with grace and gratitude.

Through this process, I discovered the immense power of accepting these scary phrases. I realized that by deflecting or downplaying a compliment, I was not only denying myself the joy of recognition but also diminishing the impact of the complement itself. By accepting them with an open heart, I learned to value my own worth and acknowledge the positive impact I can have on others and myself.

What made this journey even more profound was that my friend struggled with the same issue. We became each other’s pillars of support, constantly reminding one another to accept love without hesitation. This mutual exchange of encouragement and vulnerability created a magical safe space for ourselves to to be seen. 

As someone who’s always struggled with authority figures, working with a therapist or a professional had always left a sense of helplessness within me, I very often hated it, but having someone who’s going through the same experience as you, working hand in hand with a balanced scale, is what I seem to be most comfortable with. 

Similarly, as I told you, lovely readers, in my last entry (not the burn book one), I began fist-fighting with imposter syndrome a couple of weeks ago. After daily praise and compliments from different people, new people, who have no business complimenting me, I fell into a pit of self-deprecating doubt. But again, I reminded myself that I should instead take these compliments as reassurances, self-esteem boosters, and most importantly; believe them! 

It’s still a work in progress, I am in no way done learning the lesson, but I am so much closer than I was a year ago, so, a win is a win! 

I hope, dear readers, that you join me on this boat of embracing the love and appreciation that you (we) deserve from others. And if you don’t struggle from the same issue, please, offer us your insights! 

And with that, let’s raise our glasses (or mugs of milk) to a year of accepting kindness, celebrating achievements and supporting each other in our journeys. I am excited to share more lessons throughout the year, and I hope you’ll join me each month as we explore the path of personal growth and happiness.

Thank you for being here, genuinely, for reading, and for being a part of my adventure. Your presence is a gift.

Here’s to a year of growth, acceptance and joy. 

xoxo

FFB