What do you like about yourself?

I’ve been a long-time reader of A Cup of Jo. Almost a decade in fact! I love the wide variety of topics they cover — from food to fashion to interior design through intimacy and self-reflectin, they really run the gamut.

Back in January, they asked this exact question, and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. For a lot of people, it’s probably a pretty simple question to answer: What do you like about yourself?

But as someone who has had a life-long battle with low self-esteem and lack of self-confidence, I found myself falling into old negative thought patterns and ultimately drawing a blank.

I took a slow, deep breath, pushed away those pesky little voices, and thought hard. I don’t like to admit it, but I’ve never liked the way I look. I mean I’ve worked hard to at least accept what I look like but to say I love the way I look would be a stretch, which is why I was quite surprised when the first answer that popped into my head was a physical attribute — my eyes.

They say the eyes are the gateway to the soul, so maybe I shouldn’t have been quite so surprised by the thought. I may not love the way I look, but I can proudly say that I at least like who I am [which also took a lot of work, but if there’s any work worthy of your time and effort, I’d say it’s this].

What I’d say I like, no actually love about myself is this — I’m not afraid to ask questions. I’ve always had a curious mind. My poor mother would attest to the fact that I was quite an incessant ‘why’ kid. Although it may come off as an annoying quality for a child to possess, I’d like to think it’s a wonderful attribute to have as an adult. I distinctly remember my college friend Ross saying how much he enjoyed studying with me because I asked so many questions that inevitably some of them would appear on the exam. What can I say, I won’t rest until I actually understand how things work. Like how they really work. That surface-level bs doesn’t do it for me.

They also say that curiosity killed the cat, but even with only one life to live I’m still here fully embracing my curiosity.

Now that I’ve shared some deeply personal thoughts, I’d love to hear what you like about yourself.