Making Believing in Yourself a Priority

You are worth believing in

You make health, shelter, finances, and relationships a priority in your life. Do you prioritize believing in yourself?

What happens when you make believing in yourself a priority? Can it make you feel more positive about your life?

Allow me to tell you a personal story. I moved to Florida in 1993 as a result of a personal crisis in my life. It was a difficult time. It’s one I hope to never have to experience again. Through an act of what seemed like desperation, I packed my bags and moved from Philadelphia to Florida. It was a bold move. The reason I decided to do that was that I did not see a way for me to continue to stay in the situation I was in. I didn’t see a better alternative. But it was scary. Knowing no one in Florida, I moved.

I made believing in myself the priority over fear.

When I moved to Florida, I surrounded myself with a lot of good people. It took time, but I plugged myself into some spiritual communities that took me into their arms and loved me back to spiritual health. I was able to plug-in because I believed that there had to be a way out of my difficult situation. There was. It was about making believing in myself a priority.

When I replanted myself in Florida, I was declaring that I was worth saving. It was a bold statement to the universe that there was something very valuable about me. Despite my difficulties, I knew there was something beautiful about myself that deserved this second chance at life. When I made decisions about where I was going to live and work, I did so based on the feeling that I deserved it. It took years before I saw the results of the seeds I had planted. The harvest did not come right away. I had to till the spiritual soil for many years before anything came out of it.

I made believing in myself the priority.

When I got married in 2011 it was the culmination of many years of planting good seeds in my life. I had been teaching music in some wonderful schools, participating as an active member of a beautiful spiritual community in Miami, and living in a town I really enjoyed.

Marrying my wife Rachel marked a turning point for me. It was evidence that my life was getting better.

When I said my wedding vows, I was making believing in myself a priority.

Another major turning point was when I began writing again in March of 2018. I started to allow the thoughts that had been turning in my mind out into the world. I began to write them down in an almost desperate attempt to tell the world who I am. For years, I wanted to allow these thoughts out of me but felt that nobody would care to listen. This writing culminated in my first book Accept Connect Heal: A Vision of Hope for Our World. My world changed again.

When I began to publicly tell the world who I am I made believing in myself a priority.

We are all being presented with many challenges. We live in a time when there are tremendous health challenges, financial challenges, and political turmoil like we have not seen in a long time. It’s a painful time for many. You may be asking how you can possibly make believing in yourself a priority when so many other people are struggling. After all isn’t it selfish to think of yourself?

I don’t have a great answer for these important concerns. What I do know is that I am much more available to others when I take care of myself. I become a more giving human being once I have been loving towards myself. To become a better citizen of the world I must first become a better citizen of myself.

I have some thoughts about how you could make believing in yourself a priority in your life. Again, none of these are quick fixes and they don’t come easy, especially if you have not made believing in yourself a priority in the past. I do believe they are possible.

· Look at your own history and note all the obstacles you have overcome in your life. There are numerous examples of things that you have had to deal with where the result was positive for you. Be proud of this.

· Realize that we have all had things to overcome. When we can see that it’s just part of being human to have struggles it can help us to feel connected. It is in these connections that we can begin to feel some hope.

· Read a biography of someone whom you admire. Become aware of the struggles they had to overcome. When you become aware of their struggles and victories, it may give you hope to overcome yours.

· Be gentle with yourself as you work to become the person you want to be.

· Let go of trying to be perfect. It’s not an ideal worth striving for. Being kind to yourself is more productive.

I’m making believing in myself a priority today because it helps me take the next step. It helps me to have faith in a world that is anything but certain.

Ultimately I have the most compelling reason for believing in myself is the love I feel from my Creator. If my Creator believes in me, why would I not believe in myself?

Essay by John C. Davis © 2022 All Rights Reserved