Throughout life, it has been hard for me to acknowledge and understand my self-worth and realize how valuable I am not only to myself, but how much of a difference I make in the lives of others. Sometimes it comes down to the simple reminder that others comment on something positive about me that makes me realize how important I am and that I am one impressive person.

This is in no way glorifying myself. There are many times that my self-esteem gets low, and I am downtrodden about life. Within no doubt, my challenges in life are something to bear and I am not making them as an excuse, but sometimes the negative outweighs the positive in life. Everyone gets that way from time to time, and I am no exception. But because of being autistic, it can be more difficult to switch gears to the positive because the negative thoughts are ruminating and looping through my head, and they can set me back further than where I need to be, and I can get down on myself and in a deep funk.

Sometimes, it takes a compliment for me to realize that I need to be thankful and realize how worthy I am to so many people in my walk-in life. This can be because it is something that is not always visible and therefore can be challenging to realize. I do a lot of social media outreach not only in this effort, but in many other efforts. When someone tells me something positive about myself, initially it can be hard to accept, but at times when I am at my lowest, it can be the words that I need to hear that keep me going throughout the day.

Over the last few years, it has been difficult at times to see the positive things in my life and when negative factors would arise, they would come to the forefront and the only solution I could see was to run away from them because my anxiety caused me to act that way. Thankfully, many factors have left my life that made me feel that way in the past year and even as more changes arise, it can be scary to know that they are around, but in the end, I know that I am capable of so much. I know that I need to see the good and my self-worth of how valuable I am to the world and how much of an amazing human being that I am!

Nothing in life is ever certain, it always ebbs and flows and can change in an instant. Nothing is ever promised to stay the same and the last year has taught me that. It has also taught me that change too can be good and if I give things a chance to let things grow and know that I need to be around in certain situations because of my worth can in turn allow me to value myself greater and see that there so much good in me and not always thinking negatively about myself.

Being able to always know my self-worth and see that there are good things that make me who I am, and I am an amazing human being is what can be the contribution to keeping me going in the times when negativity or challenging moments arise. It is knowing that life is always worth living no matter what circumstances I am dealt with because I am so worth it and so many people value me in the world and indeed, it is better with me in it!