Self-appreciation is the key to your spiritual growth, to enlightenment, and to humanity's problems. Self appreciation is the solution to everything you consider to be a problem.

Many generations have been taught that self-appreciation is arrogant - that somehow it is not fitting. You have been told not to think too highly of yourself - that you are unworthy of such adoration and recognition. It must be said however, that without self appreciation, all the other things that you are striving for, will either elude you, or simply remain a struggle.

As you learn to love and appreciate who you are and what you have to offer the world, all the qualities that you are looking to develop - such as patience, acceptance, love and compassion - will be yours. That which is within you, is reflected outside of you. That which you feel, manifests in your world. Therefore, if you want to develop love, patience and compassion, it is love of self, patience with self, and compassion for self that first must be developed.  Many who focus on giving, find it difficult to receive.

Self-Appreciation is about accepting yourself exactly as you are. It is also about acknowledging your unique gifts. Within everyone is a highly creative, highly skilled being, just waiting to be discovered. Many of us catch glimpses of this in moments of inspiration, but then most immediately begin to compare ourselves to others, telling ourselves that their work or creation is more valuable than our own.

Self-appreciation is not about putting another down, or thinking yourself better than another. It is about acknowledging the greater part of yourself, the part of yourself that is tapped into Universal knowledge - a power that can create miracles. It is about acknowledging the truth of who you are. In truth, you are a child of the divine . . . more than that - you are the divine.

You are not here to prove yourself worthy of God. You are here through the expression of your free will. You came forth into this plane of existence in order to remember - and to create.

You chose to come here. It was a challenge that you delighted in taking. When your heart is filled with self-appreciation, it will govern what you draw to yourself - it will govern your experience of the world and how you relate to others.  It's only through loving and accepting yourself that you open yourself to the love of God. For God can only give you that which you are prepared to give to yourself. There is no higher truth than that.

An exercise in Self Appreciation
Take a pen and paper, and note down at least seven things that you value in yourself..

Once you have done this, look at how many things are action oriented and how many things are qualities. An action oriented statement might be, "I am a good cook", while qualities might include such things as, "I am generous, or "I am compassionate". Humans have become such action oriented beings that many believe they have very little value unless they are doing something.

Begin to acknowledge the inner qualities you possess. Focus on who you are, not what you are doing. In this way, you begin to get a different picture of yourself. Stop struggling - allow yourself to be, and be who you are, not who you think you ought to be. You will soon discover that you are already many of the things you think you ought to be.

A Universal principle tells us that that which you focus on grows. Focus on self-appreciation and acknowledging all your fine qualities. In doing so, these qualities, by virtue of your increased attention to them, will automatically grow. The principles of manifesting apply universally, irrespective of whether your focus is on obtaining a new car or a more developed quality such as generosity, patience or allowance.