Carolyn Hansen: Be your own best friend

How is it that we can be a good friend to everyone but ourselves? If you can be solid as a rock for others, then you can be that for yourself too. Photo / 123rf

OPINION

Becoming your own best friend is one of the best gifts you can give yourself… and makes life so much easier yet we can spend a lifetime taking care of others, throwing ourselves into their needs, happiness and their well-being. We “rise to the occasion” for him, her, them and it... and yet, somehow, fail to do this for ourselves.

How is it that we can be a good friend to everyone but ourselves? If you can be solid as a rock for others, then you can be that for yourself too. In fact, you must be.

Sometimes we have to take a look deep inside ourselves and flush out feelings, thoughts, and self-beliefs that can have us standing in our own way, in the way of “our own success”.

Are you “your own worst enemy”… or “your own best friend”? Do you sabotage “your own actions” or are you firmly committed to “your own health and fitness goals?” Do you stay positive and focused, are good to your body and yourself? Do you “own it”?

No matter what age you are, you can be your own best friend. You are in very capable hands. It means you like yourself. It means you look after your body and treat yourself like you would treat your own best friend. You don’t keep beating yourself up and continue on doing things that self-sabotage yourself in the areas of healthy eating and exercise. If you are overweight for whatever reason you still know without doubt that you deserve to have exactly what you want – a strong, fit, slim, feel-good healthy body.

You know that if you are overweight or in poor health certain actions have contributed to that and you do need to make some changes to your lifestyle. Eating the wrong types of foods, too much of them and avoiding exercise is not going to help you get that dream body so once you “get it” that you are heading down the wrong path you can make changes to get back on track.

When you decide to become your own best friend you use tools and techniques to enrich your life. You find out how much physical activity is the optimum for you and how to nourish yourself better, from the inside and the outside. You take responsibility for yourself, overcome the victim trap and accept yourself, warts and all, staying honest with yourself. The path to achieving your dreams starts from within.

Watch what you say to yourself. If you catch your self-talk being negative, immediately counter it with something positive. The more you do this the better you get at it! Focus on your needs. No matter how busy you get or what stacks up on your to-do list, your health and happiness come first. Taking care of yourself should always be a priority.

Use tough love. It’s important to rein in yourself on occasion. Just like you would do for a friend, tell yourself when it’s time to give up bad habits and swap them out for things that will lead you to your goals. A bit of tough love never hurt anyone! Commit to Change, then do it!

It’s important to understand, though, it’s not always easy to get this healthy lifestyle thing down! The truth is that it takes serious, conscious effort, and the sooner you embrace that fact, the better. Wishing it was easy will only leave you feeling frustrated and stuck in old habits time and time again.

As the saying goes, the best things in life aren’t easy and don’t happen without a bit of struggle, trial and error and hard work. After all, you don’t get the things you wish for, you get the things you work for.

But it’s so much easier knowing you’ll be there for yourself every step of the way and you can be your own best friend by setting yourself up for success in as many ways as possible. You can choose a healthy lifestyle that promotes all the good things in life regardless of past issues or failures. It’s time to move forward into better habits and wellbeing and one day at a time is how you will get there. Start today!

Carolyn Hansen is the co-owner of Anytime Fitness