We at LeanOnTree simply loved this entry! It is seldom that we frequent entries on our Self Love Challenge that doesn't require editing at all. Here's presenting Pompi Banerjee unplugged, with her honest and "publicly share-able" declaration of her love for self!

So, after a considerable amount of procrastination and false starts, here I am, writing about the 50 things I love about myself. The reason for the procrastination is, of course, manifold, the most prominent one is that while I love myself to bits, the idea of breaking it down into 50 distinct points is somewhat unfamiliar to me, and then writing them down and sharing with a considerable part of the world is downright scary! But oh well, right now I cannot work on that thing I had decided I would work on tonight because my pen-drive got a virus and all files got deleted (I have back up of that stuff, don’t worry!), my phone needs charging so I cannot fidget with it either, and essentially I have nothing to distract me from myself. So, here it goes, my thoughts on the 50 publicly shareable things that I love about myself!

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1. My mind! After all, it is what makes me, me! How can I not love it?


2. My life at the moment. The past is past and the future is being built. And my present rocks. It doesn’t always go the way I want it to go, and that’s alright. I love my life.


3. I am persistent. If I want something, I will do my best to get it.


4. At times I am emotionally too sensitive, almost irrationally so. I am aware of the negative consequences of being that way. I am also very happy that that sensitivity also helps me to empathize with others better. Consequences aside, I love that emotional self of mine.


5. That emotional sensitivity also comes with a bonus ability to sense it when I am being lied to. I love that ability of mine.


6. My resilience. I used to suffer from Depression – the clinical diagnosis would have been Major Depressive Disorder. I have lived through days when I did not even have the energy to wake up and get off the bed. There have been days when I did not want to exist. But I have lived through it. I have gone to therapy and, for a considerable time, I have gone through medication along with therapy and dealt with the depression. In the end, it has made me a stronger person.





7. My non-conforming identities! There are very few things about me that conform to societal norms. My rejection of the gender binary, my take on the fluidity of sexuality often sets me apart from many others. I don’t like to fit into the neat little boxes. I do love being amongst those who don’t live in those arbitrary boxes – those who strongly feel that boxes are meant to be lived outside of.


8. My eyes!!! Apparently, the naughty glint is always there. I used to think I can conceal the glint, but apparently those eyes of mine betray me! I LOVE them!


9. My openness to new experiences. I live curious, and I will almost never say no to something new without trying it once. I LOVE that part.


10. My profession! Being a psychologist, it almost always acts as a conversation starter. Many times, when I have told someone that I am a psychologist, and I have seen that “look” on their face, I have hastily added on – “And no, I cannot read your mind. Don’t ask me what you’re thinking now. I don’t know.”


11. I am quite good at reading people. There have of course been times that I have been wrong about people, but the amount of the times I have been right is far more. I love that about me.


12. I am pretty good at accepting my failures and limitations. They are a part and parcel of living a life. Failures mark growth. Limitations tell you what you’re not and who you are capable of being. I love my ability to accept myself as I am, without imposing any conditions.


13. I love the people I love as they are, too. Without conditions of having to be a certain way. Yes, at times even without them loving me back. Yes, at times not being loved back has hurt. But then, to love does not necessarily mean to have. I love my ability to love people unconditionally.


14. I don’t like to quit. I don’t quit or give up on something/someone I feel passionately about. Even when things hit the rough waters, I will do my best to work through things. And of course, that mark of resilience is another thing I love about myself.


15. Remember that point about emotional sensitivity? That also means I almost always feel things intensely. Hurt? Intense. Love? Intense. If I say I love you, I mean it to my core.


16. I don’t lie to the people I love. Honesty and trust are important to me. The truth might hurt, but then, the lie doesn’t feel good.


17. I can take criticism. Yeah, it might hurt me to know my shortcomings as others see it, but I will not shy away from them.


18. Well, I am my own worst critic. I keep the bar high for myself in whatever I do. And I keep at it until I have done it exactly the way I want to. Yes, it’s often time consuming. But, I love this side of me.


19. I’m sneaky. I don’t mind at times taking short cuts to get what I want. No, I won’t break the rules I set for myself, I won’t do things that go beyond my ethical and moral boundaries (Which I define), but I will look at doing things more efficiently.





20. Yeah, I define my own rules to live by. I can’t follow rules developed by someone else for a life that is not mine. I do love that about myself.


21. My voice!!!! I LOVE my voice!


22. I love my smile too!


23. I’m kinda quiet, until I find something interesting to talk about, something I’m passionate about.


24. Talking about talking, I’m pretty articulate.


25. I LOVE writing! I LOVE my love of writing!


26. I also love the book worm in me! It is picky when it comes to what sort of books to read, but it will chew through everything it lays its paws on! (Yes, this bookworm has paws)


27. I love my tough self. It can take a lot, and still keep going.


28. There is ofcourse a vulnerable self too! It loves with all its heart, gets hurt, runs to the tough self for comfort, cries its heart out, gets self-doubts, but then, somehow still finds the courage to get back out there and be herself. That part doesn’t ever hide behind the tough part for too long.


29. I love my thirst for knowledge and travels. They take me to amazing places!


30. There are of course negative sides to me as well. And I don’t shy away from them. They make me who I am. Hence, I love the darker sides too.


31. Often I have found that people find it easy to open up to me, to trust me. I don’t know if it’s because of something I do or say. But I do love it that I am trusted by others.


32. I am mostly an independent, self-reliant person. I like to do my work by myself. And yes, love that.


33. I also require help at times and I don’t hesitate to ask for it!


34. I say sorry when I fuck up. I don’t say sorry unless I know I have done something wrong, or I know what I have done wrong because then the apology will not be sincere.


35. I count my blessings. I love it about myself that I am able to be grateful for the things in my life.


36. I am seldom diplomatic. Most of the times I am straightforward, but in a sensitive way. I am not afraid to be politically incorrect.


37. Even when I am being my brutally honest self, I do not disregard others’ emotions.


38. I’ve a way to adapt myself to most situations. I love that.


39. In #38, I said ‘most Situations’ because in situations that makes me unhappy, or makes someone I love unhappy, I will try my best to change that situation instead of adapting to it.


40. I stand up for what I believe in. I will not abandon my values just to conform to the popular notions of how the world should be.


41. I am pretty easy to be with. I give people the space to be themselves since that’s the same I look for with others. At times I screw up, of course.


42. I have come a long way in my search for being myself. I love it that I have had the resilience and the courage to keep moving.





43. I especially love the painful parts of my life. They have given me immense strength, and realizations that I can now share with others when they need to get through the painful parts of their lives.


44. I live my life as a learner. I learn something or the other from each and every experience of mine, from everyone I come across.


45. I learn fast.


46. I’m stubborn at times. And selfish. I do love that part of me. It ensures I take care of myself, too.


47. I have a capacity for remaining unbiased even if it involves people I dislike, or things I dislike. Similarly, I can view a situation from different perspectives without getting influenced by my own thoughts and opinions.


48. I love the dreams and aspirations I have in my life. Even if they do not seem all that plausible in the near future, I still love them and will keep on loving them until they’re a reality.


49. I love my rebellious streak! Most of the times it has gotten me in trouble, and then, in dealing with that trouble, something amazing has happened to me. Hence, LOVE!


50. I love the scars on my body. They tell stories – some of pain, some of intense struggles, some of a clumsy girl, some of a person falling a lot! In the end, all those stories are a part of me – they are not the entirety of who I am, but those scars have come with strength and a not-so-boring life. I love each and every one of them!

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