What if you were required to make a list of 20 things you like about yourself and then read it in front of a group of people? Would you have a hard time coming up with the list? Would it be hard or easy to read out loud? How about sitting there while the same group of people told you what they liked about you?

That’s what I did tonight. I actually just made my third list this year of 20 things I like about myself. Why? I made one in January a week after my ex asked for a divorce. Then I made another in May during self-esteem week in the divorce class I took this spring. Now, I’m back as a facilitator for the divorce class and I have to do all of the homework assignments, so I made another list. I was trying for no repeats. What if there were actually 40 or 60 things I liked about myself?

Turns out there probably are, and the list is growing. The last time I read mine out loud, I glowed a shy-red throughout. Listening to people say what they liked about me kept me blushing hot. Later, when I read the index cards they’d written I cried.

We don’t often get the opportunity to hear what others’ like about us, at least not en masse like that. Nor do we get the opportunity to say what we like about ourselves.

It’s scary. What if people disagree? Somehow, it’s okay to make self-deprecating comments, but not to acknowledge what we like or what’s good about us. Since I’ve already done it in class tonight, I might as well do it again here.

20 Things I Like About Myself

1. I give great hugs.
2. I am open.
3. The cut of my calf muscles.
4. I create beautiful things: my son, jewelry, collages, gardens, living spaces, presents, and more.
5. My balance in dancer’s pose in yoga.
6. I am never bored.
7. I can see both sides of an argument.
8. My commitment to personal growth.
9. My music collection.
10. I am an adventurer.
11. I can laugh at myself.
12. I choose love.
13. My parenting honors and supports my son.
14. I am a seeker.
15. I have the capacity to love unconditionally.
16. I give a great massage.
17. I am physically and emotionally strong.
18. I connect with people deeply and have great friends.
19. I am learning to live in the present.
20. I tell the truth.

That was my list–at least for today. Now,  I’d like to challenge you to make a list of your own. Share as much as you want of it in the comments. It’ll kind of be like your version of saying it out loud.