30 Things I Love About Myself

In honor of Love Yourself Week, each day a Frisky staffer will share 30 things she loves about herself — and we encourage the rest of you to do the same in the comments!

Ask me if I have good self-esteem and the answer is “yes.” But ask me to explain the reasons why I love myself? It’s hard. I gave it my best shot … and I hope you’ll all do the same (about yourselves, not me) in the comments! 30 Things I LOVE About Myself:

1. Nothing Very little embarrasses me.
2. I love learning. My mind is always hungry.
3. I’m competitive like a motherf***er.
4. I’m truly one of the nicest, sweetest people you’ll ever know.
5. I show love with my actions.
6. I’m not a suck-up.
7. Joy comes to me from the little things: babies, puppies, kittens, cupcakes.
8. I’m generous, especially with my possessions.
9. I’m fiercely loyal not only to my friends, but even to people who I don’t know. I would never trash someone just to be “cool” or “popular.”
10. The carte blanche permission I’ve given to be myself. I have some amazing, crazy stories to tell about the adventures I’ve had!
11. My big brown eyes and my big, round cheeks.
12. I can apologize.
13. My regret only for things I have done, not things I have not done. Luckily, there are no opportunities I feel like I missed.
14. I stand up for myself — but I’ve also learned when to keep my mouth shut.
15. My very, very silly sense of humor. I only show it to my boyfriend and my best friend, but sometimes I totally crack myself up.
16. I’ve never seen a baby panda photo that didn’t make me squeal.
17. I’m less insecure than ever before in my life. (Especially after working at The Frisky!)
18. I’m affectionate and freely say “I love you.”
19. I will play beauty shop, Barbies and princesses with my little nieces. Even if I want to yak the entire time.
20. I’m well-read.
21. I have firm convictions and passionate beliefs, but I’m also not afraid to say “I don’t know” or “I need to find out more before I have an opinion.”
22. I’ll try almost any food or drink once.
23. I practice self-care. I used to ignore my depression and hope it would fix itself on its own. But now I do what I need to do to make sure I’m mentally healthy.
24. I don’t say “ummm” or “uhhh” a lot and I don’t end statements with question marks, as if I sound unsure. And I don’t put myself down — or if I do, I try to be joking and self-deprecating about it.
25. I try hard to have a consciousness about other races, classes, abilities, sexualities and genders. I’m more willing than most people I know to say, “Well, so-and-so knows more about being a low-income gay black man than I do, so it’s not my place to tell him what to do.”
26. My long legs.
27. I’m not afraid to dork out and admit I like the music that I like!
28. My sex life doesn’t embarrass me or bring me shame.
29. I have good manners: I say “please,” “thank you,” bring hostess gifts, and write thank you notes.
30. I trust myself.

You can read Amelia’s list of “30 Things I Love About Myself” here.