Podcast Episode - Be Thankful For Yourself

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How often do we give thanks for ourselves? Are we grateful for who we are as individuals?

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It is Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2019, and this is a day that in almost every household, throughout America at least, that people sit down and they think about how grateful they are and they give thanks, and they share a meal. And even those that don't even have any money to do such a thing, normally there's a place that they can go and others are being generous of spirit and sharing and giving with them. And this is a day that normally we give thanks to others. And I was sitting here thinking about that, and while I think it is absolutely incredible that we give thanks to others, I'm sitting there thinking to myself, how often do we give thanks to ourselves? How often do we look at who we are and we're grateful for who we are? You know, we spend so much time being grateful that this person is in our life, and this happened to us, and I got this job, and my children are fabulous. And I'm just not sure how much time we spend thinking about how great we are. And when you think about how great we are, another term for that is known as self-worth.Do you know what yourself is worth, to you? Are you grateful for who you are, or do you spend your time thinking I wish I was like so and so? If only I could lose 20 lbs, if only I could exercise every day, if only I could do this, if only I could do that, if only I could be that, if only I could be this. How often do you say I really love who I am? How often? I don't hear you. I don't hear your answer, and that's probably because obviously this is a podcast and I can't hear your answer. But probably really, If I were standing there in front of you, you would look at me and you would say, not that often. So self-worth.How many times have I told you that self-worth equals net worth? The two of them are one, because your money is who you are and who you are is your money. So that's why this topic is perfect for the Women and Money podcast and the men smart enough to listen. Because when I talk about who you are, I'm really talking about your money. And when I talk about your money, I'm really talking about who you are. So, today, since I was thinking about this, I thought, well, Suze Orman, how would you answer that question? What are five things, just five things that you are really grateful for about who you are, Suze Orman? And I'm going to tell you what those five things are, but I also want to ask you that on this day of Thanksgiving, or whenever you listen to this podcast, I'm asking you to just take a few minutes and sit down and take out a pen and a piece of paper and just write down five things about yourself that you think are worthy of you praising yourself for. That you're grateful for, that you love about yourself.You know, so many times when I get up in front of a crowd and somehow somebody asks me something. I always say I like who I am, I have a crush on myself and they look at me like, huh? But it's OK to like yourself, it's OK to love yourself. In fact, it's not OK not to love yourself. It is not OK not to like yourself because what else do you have in this lifetime, really? Because there will come a time for every single one of us where we're older, hopefully, we get to be older, and we're on our deathbed. Then what matters? I've always said you're not going to be thinking about that red Mercedes that you never got to buy or the house that maybe you never got to buy. You're going to be thinking about what matters, and while I know and you know that you can never take a penny with you, when you leave this earth you take with you your final thoughts. And what will those thoughts be? Will they be thoughts of regret or will they be thoughts of gratitude?Because on this Thanksgiving day, you want gratitude. But you want gratitude that will last you your entire lifetime, not just one day a year on Thanksgiving. You want every day to be a Thanksgiving where you are giving thanks for who you are. So can you do that? Can you keep that paper with you? And if you can't think of five things, OK, think of one. And if you can't think of one, create one. Do one thing about yourself, change one thing about yourself that you love about who you are because that's what the Women and Money podcast really is all about. One of the things that I love most about myself is I stand in the truth. When I say something, I believe it from the bottom of my heart. When I say something, it's not always easy to hear, but it's the truth of what I'm thinking at the time, and it is the truth for me. And so because I stand in the truth, I never have to worry about anything. I never have to look behind my back and wonder if the IRS is going to come after me about something because there's nothing that they could possibly come after me for because I stand in the truth. What I do with my money is what I tell you to do with your money. What I tell you about relationships is what I do in my relationships. And when I speak to you, whether it's on this podcast or it's in a talk that I'm giving or whatever, I speak in truths. So, I never have to wonder, what did I say? Because words will come and go but truths, oh, they will stay because a truth is forever. It is the truth and the problem, in my opinion, in this world is none of us have the courage to speak our truths. We always want to make others feel good, so even though we may be thinking, oh, this is what I think about this person we say, oh, you're so great. I like you, you're such a good person or whatever you're saying, but that's not what you're thinking. It isn't the truth and that's something that if you can't stand in your own truth, then you really have a problem. So one of the things that I like most about myself is I stand in the truth.You know, recently I was looking at the stuff that I have on my computer and going, should I throw this away? Should I throw that away? And I came across my final show of The Suze Orman Show that I have as a recording. And I clicked on it and up came Oprah saying goodbye to The Suze Orman Show and me, and I loved that so much. And I so appreciate Oprah having done that, it will be a gift that I'll save forever. But Oprah reminisces of what were some of the greatest things that I ever said on her show, all 29 or 30 times that I was on? And she said, stand in your truth. And as I was watching this, I was thinking, and I still do Oprah, and I hope everybody else does as well, so that's the first thing I love about myself.The second thing is, I know my own thoughts. I love that, I love that I don't have to ask people, what do you think? What do you think I should do? Do you think this is right? Do you think this is wrong? I know the difference between right and wrong, I know my own thoughts. And because I know my own thoughts, I'm able to stand in the truth. I'm able to say what I'm thinking because I know what I'm thinking and I'm not afraid to say what I'm thinking, so I'm able to stand in the truth. Most of you are afraid to say what you're thinking and to do what you are feeling because God forbid as I said before, you would hurt somebody else's feelings. But the problem is even deeper than that. The problem is you don't know what to think. You doubt yourself, you think others know better, so you're constantly asking them, what do you think I should do? What do you think about this? Tell me your thoughts. No. You don't need to know what other people are thinking. You don't need to know other people's thoughts, you simply need to know your own thoughts and what you think. How many times have you heard me say you have to trust yourself more than you trust others. But no, you don't trust yourself, you trust others and they don't have to live your life. Your life that you want to live, that's a great life, a life full of gratitude for who you are. And to be able to live that life, you have to know your own thoughts.The third thing that I love about myself, doesn't that even sound funny for me to say, I love about myself? Have you ever even said those words? Today would be a good day to start to be thankful as to what you give yourself. But the third thing that I love about myself is this, that I have faith, and I have faith that everything happens for the best. And the reason that I love that about myself is that not everything always goes right in my life. It's not like I haven't had pain or illness or loss or heartbreak or all of those things. Of course, I have. Of course, I have. You know it was interesting, last night, I was watching the AMA awards, and Taylor Swift, who I love so much, had won all these awards. And at the very end, she came on and she said, I want to thank all of you, the fans, because you've got me through one of the most difficult years of my life. And I was thinking, how many people don't even get that when you're famous or when you're rich or when other things happen, and you have all this fame and everybody is just admiring you. How many of you even think that that person can have true heartbreak in their lives, whatever it may be? And I love that she talked about that. And I love that I have faith that no matter what happens in my life, I know that it is a present that is being given to me, if I'm just willing to unwrap it.So I take the good news and the bad news. I take the love along with the hate. I take everything that is out there and I see it as a gift. As a gift, really, from God. You know, in my life I think it's so funny, you either really, really love me or you really, really hate me. There is no in-between with me. It's not like somebody goes, oh, Suze Orman, she's OK. Like Suze Orman, her voice drives me crazy. Oh, Suze Orman, she just drives me nuts. Or Suze Orman, oh, my God, I love her, she changed my life. It's one or the other. And there are people out there that hate me so much, and they write things and they make videos and they try to convince others about how bad of a person I am, and I'm so grateful to them. I'm so grateful to them. I'm so sorry that they live in a state of hate while I'm living in a state of love. And it's fine, I never go after them. I could easily sue them and totally strip every penny they've ever had away from them or the potential to have money. But I don't, and I let them just do whatever they want to do, say whatever they say. And the reason is this, that I have faith that everything happens for the best and that faith allows me to feel my own self-worth and to love myself. Love myself because I know my own thoughts about myself, I know my own thoughts about those people, and I am able to stand in the truth of what I know is true versus what they say is true about me. What did they know about me? They haven't known me since, you know, since back in the 1990s, I'm not the same person. Not that I even was that person that they think I was back then, but are you understanding how all of this is connected? You see how your thoughts and how you feel about yourself, how it all comes back to one thing?Number four, I love that I do what is right versus doing what is easy. I love that, and I never cross that line. Sometimes it's so easy to just do something that is easy to do. But I don't. I only do what's right and because I do what is right, and I know what is right because I have faith that everything happens for the best and because I know my own thoughts and I stand in the truth, and all of those are my pillars that allow me to do what's right. And because I always do what's right, I never have any regrets. I never have to say, oh, I wish if only I had done that, or I wish I had said that. Or, oh, I wish I could take back the hands of time and do this. I don't have those thoughts, I don't have those wishes.And the last thing that I really love about myself is that I know I have a heart of gold, I know it. I know that when I read your emails that you send in, I love reading those emails and I love answering them as well. And lately, as you know, I've answered almost all of the emails that have been coming in as of late in the past month. And I do that because I love you. Because my heart loves you, my heart identifies with that you have a question, and I'm so grateful that I'm able to help you. Or at least I hope my answers help you. Or at least you know, that you are valid enough that when you write in, I answer you. I answer you. And if I don't have time to answer them, because sometimes it's not easy to answer all of them. Or sometimes I can't because I'm on the island and we don't have communication. But at least I want to. At least I'm honoring you enough to read your questions and hopefully address them in some form on a podcast.And that happens because I have a heart of gold because my heart is a precious one. It's one that honors you and respects you and wants to give to you and wants you to have that happiness in your life that I so want you to have. The security in your life that I so want you to have, and the valuing of who you are in your life and what you do that I so want you to have. On this Thanksgiving day, I give thanks to not only who I am, but to every one of you that listens. Every one of you that reads one of my books, every one of you that watches any of my shows, anyone of you that on an energetic level has given back to me because you're absorbing the information that I'm putting out there in the hopes that one day you can be thankful for every single part of your life. All right, happy Thanksgiving. In providing answers, Suze Orman is not acting as a certified financial planner, advisor, a certified financial analyst, an economist, CPA, accountant or lawyer. Suze Orman does not make any recommendations as to any specific securities or investments. All content is for informational and general purposes only and does not constitute financial accounting or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, legal and financial advisors regarding your particular situation. Suze Orman does not accept any responsibility for any loss which may arise from accessing or reliance on the information in this podcast, and to the fullest extent permitted by law, we exclude all liability for loss or damages, direct or indirect, arising from the use of the information. To find the right Credit Union for you, visit https://www.mycreditunion.gov/. Interested in Suze's Must Have Documents? Go to https://shop.suzeorman.com/checkout/cart/index/.