10 things that are fantastic about me

My self-esteem has always sucked. At least, it has for as long as I can remember.

Although I can say it is way better in my 20s than it was in my teens, which is due to the positive and supportive people in my life who... I want to say 'tolerate' everything that most people have made me feel bad about myself for so long. Maybe tolerate isn't the right word, but every way I went to word that sounded bad.

And that's what I'm working on at the moment- improving my self esteem.

Hence, this list, which I was asked to write by my psychologist. And it is hard. I can admit, I've procrastinated. Every time I thought about it, I got stuck. But here it is the final draft:

1. I know heaps of random crap information. Mostly on subjects I care about (I have so much Harry Potter trivia, it's not even funny).

2. I try to be nice to everyone all the time- even people I don't like. I care about other people's feelings.

3. I think of awesome questions for celebrity Q&A's (which has been confirmed by Jemma Rix and David Harris). I like to put thought into it and ask meaningful, thoughtful questions; instead of any unoriginal stuff that you could find an answer to in any interview.

4. I'm loyal. I try to be a good friend and I am loyal to my friends and my family. I try to be a good daughter, granddaughter, sister, etc. I really value friendship and don't take it lightly. And I'm loyal to all the fandoms I'm a part of. Once I really love something, I pretty much always stick with it. (The only exception I can think of is House, but that just got so bad after season 5 3. 4 and 5 were ok. But I did still follow the show after I stopped watching).

5. I honour my commitments. Unless something really urgent comes up, I always stick to plans I make (as in with people). I'm not a quitter- I was raised to follow through with my promises. I did quit my first job, but that's because my boss was mean and scary and it was affecting my health. Then I only quit my second job because I was moving 4 hours away for my first teaching job, so I kind of had to.

6. I'm empathetic. I try really hard to understand what people are going through and feeling, and apparently I'm fairly accurate.

7.  I am apparently good at baking (based off when I bake stuff and people tell me that it's good). And I am very good at supplying chocolate to people. I have a stash in my desk drawer at work for everyone. Because sometimes, you just need chocolate (especially as a teacher, because kids can suck).

8. I have written stuff that make people laugh (even if I don't always expect them to, because no one would really describe me as funny), and cry (which makes me laugh). And that's a really nice feeling to know I can do that, although I have been known to mock that at times.

I may have used this image to describe it.

9. I love learning. I genuinely do, and I actually enjoy research when it's on something I care about. I research subjects I'm interested in, whether just because or for a story. When you write a story where a character is pregnant or has is pregnant (2 separate stories, just FYI) and people tell you that it's accurate and it feels real, that's a good feeling.

10. I am good at... reading? I don't know, that never really sounds like a skill. But I do read fast... not that I really have the time to read any more. But I read the last Harry Potter book in 4 hours when it first came out. I could do it again probably, but I've never tried.

And, a bonus:

11. I am really good at getting people interested in things I'm passionate about. I have convinced so many people to go see Wicked in the past 4 years because I don't shut up about it. I even have a T-shirt with that on it.

The really nice thing was when I mentioned this list on Facebook and people commented. In hindsight, it's interesting to look at what I've put on my list and what my friends apparently value about me.

So, there is my list.