The Glow Up

You are beautiful when you glow. When you don’t too, but this is a different kind.

The term glow up is often casually used to refer to surface levels of improvements, making your appearance more appealing, typically based on the current or surrounding beauty standards. And while that’s fine, there can also be a lot more to it. You could be glowing from the inside out.

When this is the case, it’s not only a physical beauty, but a spiritual one as well. You feel good inside, you’re centered and balanced, and you are at peace and ease. And that comes through. May even be somewhat contagious, helping induce a similar state in others when they’re in proximity. Call it pleasant vibes or aura.  

It is thorough work, though. Suppressing, denying and ignoring won’t do. If there is something bothering you, it must be addressed. Exposed and acknowledged. Maybe you can’t fix everything fully, but at least enough to outshine any foul moods and states that these issues may be causing in you.

You must tend to your body, yes, but also to your mind, to your heart, and to your spirit. Tend to the physiological but also to the psychological. And that might be your biggest flex - to be so thoroughly taken care of that there is nothing to envy in others or resent them for. You are feeling great about yourself and what else is there to worry about when you’re in optimal shape?

Unfortunately, though, some of the worst people you’ll meet will be drawn to you when you’re at your best. And if you’re not careful, if you don’t fiercely protect yourself, your energy and your whole being, along with your lifestyle, they could drain and destroy you to the point where you’ll become unrecognizable. These are people who feed off you and/or who just despise that you vibrate so high and have so much of what they lack. Some of them may not even seem like it, they may look like they have it even better than you. But if they operate with malice and disregard for your wellbeing, chances are that they do not.

You may be accused of being “stuck up” because you are confident and secure in yourself, enough to not get too close or invested in what damages you, and likely many others who also cared genuinely about you, so arduously worked towards. Let them and keep your head high.

Retrieving Your Spark

You let yourself go and you wish to get back to yourself? That can be done. It might not be an overnight job, but you’ll get there after taking the required steps.

If, for whatever reason(s), you find yourself somewhere you’d rather not be, grab a pen and a notebook (tangible, to give yourself off-screen and grounding time, and/or virtual, as the convenience of the extra features available can go a long way) and start taking notes. It’ll help you identify, outline, and break apart what is happening and what has to be done to remedy it.

It may be that you’re disconnected from yourself, from what really makes you come alive, what fulfills you and takes you closer to your self-actualization. And it may be that you’ve overlooked the importance of tending to the little, yet essential, self-care tasks that keep you in shape, running smoothly and safely, which eventually hinders all. Maybe you pushed yourself too far, too.

You can take your notes however it is best for you. But one approach to it would be the following:

- Note everything that is currently wrong or off.

- Note what of that is within your reach to fix.

- Note what is messing them up and what could sort them out.

- Note your priorities, which issues you will tackle first and which afterwards.

- Note your timeframe (though remind yourself that you can be flexible) for having them settled.

Depending on how much there is to work on, it could be anything from a week to years. However, don’t let that discourage you. The mere act of getting yourself on track to make progress is already rewarding. Wouldn’t choose to just give up on yourself, would you?

Some of us had it especially tough because we had to undo years and years of harmful treatment and conditioning, breaking cycles and habits, examining beliefs. And we would have to get to know ourselves because we didn’t get a chance to before (or are called to do so more thoroughly). In order to have a shot at becoming and being our own glowing selves. Hence, retrieving your spark might not be so readily on sight and instead get tricky, to say the least. However, once you learn and know how to bring it about, it gets easier to do for other instances in which you later lose it. Then you might, as well, be able to steadily maintain it.

The Glow Down

It is true, it shows on the outside what is going on in the inside. If you’re in circumstances, situations, or relationships that are more stressful than they are relieving, it will be reflected. Not only psychologically, but also physically.

Your skin might dry out, you might get acne, your hair could fall out, or it may thin and gray, you could start putting on weight, inflammation here and there, along with dark circles around your eyes, or even a pale “dead” look. Along all that, you might not even find it in yourself to take as much care of yourself as you otherwise would.

And while many of these consequences are reversible, they can still take a lot to get rid of once they’ve begun. What’s worse, though, is that some can be permanent. You can literally age faster when put under severe stress. And that’s without touching the very real damage that it can cause to your brain.

So you may call it vanity or what you will, but this is part of why hanging and sticking around people and places that strain you isn’t recommendable. You don’t get a badge of honor for enduring detrimental treatment or labor. What you get is your suffering reflected on you.

Sure, we can’t always be chasing absolute bliss, pushing away and shutting out everything and everyone who isn’t that for us. But we can seek to reduce and counter those moments that take a toll on us. Setting clear boundaries and making room for nourishing activities, having no reluctance to ignore and dismiss any guilt-tripping that could come our way about it.

Some people are martyrs and expect you to be too. And some people are abusers and expect you to allow abuse. Neither should have a say on what you do and don’t do with your life. It is the people who yearn to see you doing well, and who even help you move toward this, whose opinions matter.

We don’t always realize when we’re pushing beyond what we can properly handle, probably being caught up in the frenzy of tending to whatever it is that’s consuming us. So when these things start to happen, when you’re glowing down, they can be taken as symptoms to realize that a change is required.

Leeches but Also...

You would (mistakenly) think that, with all these leeches that show up wherever there is abundance or abundance in the making, it is all that is out there. But it is not.

There are also those who come to be a part of it and give their best, who honor and support it within their abilities, to make it even grander. As though devoted to building something greater than themselves alone.

They bring encouragement, guidance, insight, relief, and even protection. BESIDES fulfilling their own roles. And so much MORE.