What Does It Mean To Nourish Who You Are?

Written by Michelle Shelton

April 18, 2023

What does it mean to nourish who you are? It’s an important question in the work I do. It is a message of both acceptance and growth. It’s loving who you are today but also believing and investing in who you can become tomorrow. To me, it is four main things:

1. Meeting yourself where you are

Radical self compassion for who you are and where you are is a key first step to nourishing who you are. You nourish a seed differently than you nourish a full grown plant. Seedlings require frequent and small amounts of water, where more mature plants thrive with deep watering less often as the roots stretch and grow. Wishing yourself further along on your journey may lead you to drown or dry out the tender seed inside. Radical self compassion opens honest self reflection to your struggle and your strengths in this moment.

2. Preparing for growth

Accepting where you are does not mean you plan to stay there. You nourish that which you want to grow. Nourishing who you are is a journey of becoming. Nourishing is an intentional practice of providing those things needed for something to meet its fullest potential. For a plant to bloom and bear the best fruit it needs the right nutrients, water, and sunlight. It needs good soil, free of weeds. People, like plants, need to be nourished with the right mix of care to grow into their greatest potential. 

3. See the good inside (your true self)

You need to know what your potential is to nourish it properly. You need to know that inside of you is a great capacity for courage, confidence, clarity, and calm. Inside of you is a strong, powerful, wise, and adaptive person. Inside of you is the power to change, to achieve, to build a life you love. These capacities and qualities are in all of us. Start seeing them in you. 

4. Play to your strengths

When it comes to self improvement, we sometimes make the mistake of focussing on all the things we don’t do well, hoping that if we fill in those gaps we’ll finally reach our goals or be worthy of the life we desire. The truth is, it is through your strengths that you will be able to achieve your fullest potential. Sometimes we undervalue our strengths. I know many introverts who believe they need to be extroverted to be valued in this world. But introversion has a strength and power of its own. When undervalued and neglected, you leave so much potential on the table. Whatever your strengths are, value them and nourish them. The world needs them. 

Let’s start nourishing who you are. The world needs who you are today. Even more, it needs who you may become tomorrow.