I Am Lovable

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One of the most important things I have been coming to learn over the past few months is that I have incredible strength. 

I have good instincts. I have good intuition. I have a talent for "reading" people. I have a compassionate heart. I have an intelligent mind. I have great moral strength.

I have believed, most of my life, that I am weak. I have let Fear feed me lies, to cause me to doubt myself. I have allowed Fear to keep me small, in my box, isolated, lonely. 

Fear was able to do this because my need to be loved by others was greater than my need to love myself. I let Fear control me in the hope that I could shame myself into becoming someone other people could love. I have always had an intense desire to be fiercely wanted, to be truly accepted, to be intimately understood by another person. I have believed that such things were more important to my happiness than anything else. 

Now, as I let go of Fear, I see that I can love, understand, and accept myself. God loves, understands, and accepts me. It's not that I don't need anyone else, it's that I can give myself permission to love and accept myself without waiting for someone else to do it first. I don't need someone else's permission to love myself. 

And therein lies the key to my strength. Fear has tied it up, tossed it into a cage, and locked it tight. Love is the key. Loving myself, trusting myself, listening to myself - all of these things allow me to unlock the cage which has held my strength for so long. The more I practice loving, trusting, and listening to myself, the more I prove to myself that I am strong, worth loving, worth knowing.

Love is the secret. I can love myself without permission from another human being. I am good, I am strong, I am kind, I am smart. I matter. 

I am lovable.

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