Feeling happy and comfortable in my own skin

Today I am going to the football with my boyfriend and some of his family which will be great! I just have to wait for my boyfriend to get home from work (I know, only my boyfriend is crazy enough to vuluntarily work on his Saturday mornings after a whole week of working atleast 10 hours everyday). 

As I got ready this morning, I found it so nice to be accepting of myself and how I looked as this never would have happened to me in the past. Although i still have times when I feel self conscious and suffer from poor self esteem, it is just great to feel confident in my own skin sometimes too. 

Here are a few selfies I took this morning to mark this wonderful achievement of bejng able to accept myself, the way I truly am supposed to be. I encourage everyone in recovery from an eating disorder to aim for this type of self acceptance as it really is the most wonderful feeling, when you no longer hate everything about yourself all the time.

SMILE!

I am actually known in the town I live in as the girl who always smiles as I literally always have a smile on my face. I believe that smiling really does always makes you feel good, no matter what and I also love making others feel happy too. I have been told that my hapiness and positivity is contageous which is one of the best compliments I have ever been given as making other people happy is even more important to me then being happy myself. 

You never know what others are going through

Today when I was at work, I found myself wondering what all of the customers I was serving were going through in their personal lives. Sometimes, you see something that makes you wonder whether a person is battling something big in their lives. For example, if you see some cuts on a persons wrist you may wonder if they self harm or if you see an unnaturally skinny person, you cant help but wonder whether they have anorexia or not.

But then, So many diferent things do not have obvious phyical symptoms too. You cant tell by looking at someone if they have bulimia (or many other eating disorders for that matter), alcoholism, bi-polar, anxiety, cancer etc. Someone may have an abusive partner or may have been sexually abused or may have lost a child to cancer or in an accident. You just never know what anyone has been through.

This is why, I always try to be really polite and kind to everyone I meet, no matter what. Even if that person is not particulary friendly to me, I still treat them with the same amount of kindness, as I have no way of knowing what they could be going through. It is not my place to judge anyone I don't know, or even anyone I do know for that matter and I will always try my absolute hardest to bring a smile to the face of every person I meet.

Without even realising it, just by being polite and friendly you could be making the world of difference to somebodies life. When you make someone smile, you could be making them smile for the one and only time that day. Never underestimate just how much a smile or a few kind words can mean to someone. Even if someone does not appear to be in a happy or friendly mood, this is all the more reason to be nice as these are the types of people who often need to be cheered up the most.

Someone who always makes me smile

No matter how I am feeling, Tess always manages to bring a smile to my face. Tess is the most affectionate and loving dog I have ever known which I am so grateful for. I know that no matter what happens, Tess will always love me unconditionally and make me feel needed and loved. She always seems to know when I am feeling down as she always stays extra close to me. I suppose this is her way of letting me know that she is there. This probably sounds so silly but Tess really is my best friend and I love her so much. I love her for all of her crazy ways and wouldn't change a thing about her. I honestly don't know what I would do without her.

Tess helping me blog ;)

By the fire with Tess this morning

Tess knows she isn't supposed to leave her spot by the door but how do you growl at this gorgeous face? She knows that if she looks cute she will mostly always get her way.

Good Morning (picture post)

breakfast <3

Walking on the beach

Feeling happy and positive

my skin still isnt great, but its getting a lot better :)

Ready for work

Morning tea

Day 25: what/who in your life makes you smile ear to ear? Why?

I decided to list my top  things that make me smile from ear to ear (in no particular order).

- Tess
No matter what sort of mood I am in, Tess can always make me smile. She is the most affectionate dog you could ever ask for and is always trying her hardest to please me. She is also very funny in the way she acts or responds to different things. Even if she does something naughty I cant keep a straight face and act cross towards her because she rolls onto her back and plays dead which is way too cute.

- Dad

my dad is the one person who can always make me feel good and happy. Whenever he looks and smiles at me I honestly cant help but smile back. He is possibely the only person who has always been able to make me feel special and loved.

I love this photo of us as we both look so happy. We arent just smiling for the camera like people usually do in photos. We are just naturally smiley and happy because we are talking to one another.

-Getting a lovely comment from a reader

Getting lovely comments from people who read my blog makes me feel so happy. The comments from readers that make me the happisest are the ones that say I am helping them in their recoveries. Ever since getting sick myself and seeing how hard anorexia is to overcome, helping others recover from anorexia has been something I have become very passionate about. Therefore having people say that my blog is inspiring them to recover means the world to me and makes me extremely happy.