Letting Go of What Others Think

Yesterday on Instagram I posted about a topic that I keep coming back to lately...

Letting go.

Right now I'm working on letting go of caring what others think of me. 

I had a moment yesterday where I thought, 'You know, today has been a really good day.' And then I listed off the reasons it was a good day, and none of them were related to me; they all had something to do with other people -- granted, people in my life that I love and care about, but not me. 

And I thought, 'I want to be happy with myself regardless of what's going on with other people, and outside of their opinions of me.' 

This is something I struggle with, that I've struggled with for a long time without realizing it; I constantly look for approval from others. 

I base my happiness on the happiness of those around me. 

 And sometimes, as an empath, I feel my energy merge with that of those who are close to me, and I struggle to separate my experience from theirs. 

So, how do I work on this? How do I create my own experience, and develop my own self-worth outside of what's going on around me, or what other people think of me? 

My yoga practice is a good starting place. When I'm on my mat, it's just me. I give myself permission to move in my own way, to feel what I feel, to let go of shit, and to be imperfect. 

Re-reading this very blog has been helpful lately, too, as I've been writing about the topic of loving myself for YEARS. 

This struck me yesterday, actually...I have so many posts about self-love, self-acceptance, and compassion! I have given myself so much advice on this topic! Haha. It almost felt silly to realize I have all this advice and I still struggle to take it in...to practice what I preach. 

But, coming back to the theme: LET GO. Be present. Begin again in this moment.

Namaste.

Photos in this post by Tom Huynh.