Loving oneself can feel astonishingly similar to the twitterpated, warm rush of feels you get from falling for someone else. Nothing is more empowering than courting your inner badass with fancy dates, shiny presents, and some good ol’ tlc.

Chances are you may be a little bit enamored with yourself – I mean, who wouldn’t be!? – if you catch yourself doing the following things:

1. You buy yourself fresh bouquets of flowers, on a whim
2. You send yourself love notes
3. You’ve been caught ogling your own Facebook profile picture before
4. You say Oh, Hell No to things and people that drag you down
5. You say Hell Yes to things and people that build you up
6. Instead of falling asleep with a head full of self-doubt, you take those last moments of your night to think about all the ways in which you are a dazzling, wonderful, beautiful creature
7. After you make a mistake, you spend more time looking for the lesson learned than beating up on yourself
8. You treat yourself to a personal date night every so often – You cook exactly what you want, pamper yourself with a nice bath and amazing smelling body lotion, and pop on your favorite show or movie
9. You make a point to tell the people you love just how wonderful you think they are, because you know how big a few small words can feel
10. You differentiate who you are from the negative voice that feeds off picking you apart
11. You bet big on yourself, even when no one else does
12. You care enough about your mental wellbeing to seek help from a professional when things get tough
13. After hanging out with jerks, you think to yourself, ‘I’m so glad I’m not them’
14. You actually enjoy being alone on a weekend night
15. You have a Pinterest board full of motivational quotes
16. You can’t get enough of Positively Positive, The Daily Love, Marie Forleo … or any self-empowering, feel-good blog
17. You know that your greatest weapon is that people underestimate you
18. You enjoy the things you do outside of work – antiquing, hiking, your weekly dance yoga class, charity work – whatever it is, because they are so you
19. You give yourself a monthly/quarterly allowance just for a facial, massage, mani-pedi … whatever makes you feel cared for and treated
20. You eat when you’re hungry, rest when you’re tired, and generally take care of yourself
21. You’ve signed up for a meditation seminar, a yoga retreat, a self-love course, a silent retreat, or any self-help workshop
22.  You’ve been known to dance while you cook, shower, or as a main method of transportation from room-to-room
23. You have actually said to yourself, “I’m freaking awesome!” after doing something completely mediocre and mundane
24. You think “I wonder if…” more than “I could never”
25. You let other people compliment you, even if only on occasion
26. You recognize that sometimes people admire things about you that you can’t see, and instead of trying to prove them wrong, you work on proving to yourself that they are right

With courage, self-love, and intensity,

Kristen

Photo credit: sjwalton.com / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND