Have you admired yourself lately? When was the last time you really took the time to appreciate yourself and say "wow, it took me a lot to get here?". I have to do it, there's no way I should ever forget to do it, because it took A LOT for me to be this person that I am now along with being satisfied with being me.
Quite recently, I reached an epiphany. There was a problem of mine that that people close to me stressed to me about and I couldn't really understand or even look at as a problem until I accidentally went on a disturbing nostalgia trip. This is actually the second time this year it's just that the first time, I didn't catch on.
I tend to avoid reading my journal entries because I don't like to. They're kind of too intense for me to revisit. And that's fine of course, maybe it's just not time for me to be ready for that yet and I won't force it. However, I forget that my old social media accounts were kind of my diaries. I logged on to my old and abandoned tumblr account and I forgot how much I would vent and it honestly wasn't a good feeling, however it was needed. I finally understood what they were trying to say. If you ever think that you need a time machine, you don't. You just need to read and analyze your old diaries lol. But seriously though, the best way to work on your self-development and awareness is to be the person from the inside looking out for yourself.
It doesn't always have to be heavy or dreadful though. Take it day by day and be patient with yourself. I feel a lot more better about myself than I did when I was younger, I still struggle with my self image or this chronic feeling that everything I make is mediocre. One minute it's "I don't really like my side profile" or "I feel like this picture makes me look too thin", and then the next minute I'm in the mirror and I say "Well, well, well, if it isn't Aphrodite's face and body". Or when my dissatisfaction for my work feels endless and then I end rereading my stuff and think "wow, I'm actually a genius". It shows that I'm not perfect when it comes to appreciating what I have but I'm definitely a work in progress. It's the same with you, so don't feel if you're not there yet or that you'll never get there, you will but that aspiration gets closer once you start by appreciating what you have even when you feel that you're not "finished", "ready", or even near both.
