Today is my favourite day of the year, as it is my birthday! The one day of the year when you should be extra grateful for the gift of life and all the blessings in your life. But just imagine the positive effect this gratitude could have if practised daily ?

So don’t stop at celebrating your life once a year. Live life like everyday is your birthday. The more you practise celebrating yourself, the more you’ll have to celebrate and I believe fashion and self-love are excellent ways to do just that.

Fashion is an magical vehicle for self expression and an amazing way to celebrate the moment. Think back to all the special occasions in your life when you felt your best. No doubt you were wearing a killer outfit. The fact that the words “party-dress” instantly conjures up very specific emotions and memories for a majority of girls from the age of three upwards, just goes to show how much fashion can effect us and the way we feel.

So why not take the time to choose the clothes that highlight your radiance, fuel your feelings and enhance your day to day life – everyday ? Don’t postpone your joy: dress for yourself, wear clothes and accessories that makes you feel good and know that it’s not shallow to put effort into how you look. Attention is love and love is attention – both of which you deserve.

What we wear and the way it makes us feel goes hand-in-hand with how we treat ourselves. Here are 10 ways to love yourself and live like everyday was your birthday:

• Express love in as many ways as you can. Tell your friends you adore them, say thank you and mean it, flash your biggest and most sincere smile at a stranger on the street, hug someone for a little longer than normal. The more love you give out, the more it builds inside of you and the more you’ll get back.
• Listen to new types of music and dance like no one is watching!
• Run away for the day. Spend some time by yourself. Escape the usual. Go somewhere you’ve never been before. It will shake up your vision of what the world is like and give you a fresh perceptive. As they say “a change is as good as a rest.”
• Be vibrant and colourful. If not in dress, then in word or action. The world has enough grey – be different.
• Do something you are afraid to do. It is never too late to do what you really want to do. Don’t let other peoples opinions or fear or criticism stop you from being as wonderful as you can be. Be brave. Take a deep breath and just go for it.
• Get more sunshine. Scientific fact of  the day: Vitamin D stimulates the Pineal Gland, which is the part of the brain responsible for producing happy feelings.
• Make the most of every opportunity. Don’t hold back. Make a commitment to live boldly.
• Be your own best friend. Rather than your own worst enemy.
• Recognise that life is only ever what you make it. So why not make it magical, wonderful, beautiful and anything but normal.
• Take a bubble bath wearing a tiara.

Instead of thinking of self-love as just one more thing to add to your to-do list, imagine each time you take care of yourself that you are building the foundations of a beautiful temple. A temple in which you worship, celebrate and love yourself. And if you don’t think you are worthy of your very own temple keep telling yourself  “I approve of myself and accept only the best for myself in life.”

And before I go to celebrate myself, here are a few words on ageing … don’t be ashamed, embarrassed or feel the need to fight your years. Own them, be proud of who you are, what you’ve learned and how far you’ve come. Especially when it comes to the changes in your body as Sara Wiseman so beautifully describes in her book The Four Passages of the Heart “Your body is a divine container that will change over your lifetime. Revel in this! Notice it! This is the way of things: the softening of the shell so that the soul may emerge.”

Happy Birthday to you !

Image by Karen Walker