Reason to be proud--go ahead and brag on yourself!

[Tremayne]

 It seems to me that life runs on with little opportunity to celebrate accomplishments, especially as adults and especially in regard to achievements that simply aren't visible to others. So here's a place to say "I'm proud of ____".  It's not like having a party or receiving a diploma or a medal (though you can include those things here), but at least it's acknowledging that some feat has been pulled off, some goal attained or some valuable trait brought to light.

[Trillium]

I'm proud that I am finally going to be a home owner.
I'm proud to be married for almost 14 years to a wonderful husband.
I'm proud of my handsome little boy who is getting ready to start school.

[Blue66669]

I'm proud that I have the most wonderful husband in the world, who has shown more love to me than I ever thought possible. He's been one helluva good sport concerning a LOT of issues that would have sent any normal man running for the hills. Hell, I'm just proud of my husband.... WAY TO GO BABY, YOU RAWK!

I'm proud that I made such an impression on my colleagues that when I was outed by HR, a month and a half later, they fought to bring me back.

I'm proud that I have not made some of the same mistakes my mother has made- I pay my bills on time, the power is ALWAYS on, and I don't blame my family for the problems that I have in my life.

[PurpleDragon]

I am proud that I finally made the decision almost two years ago to become a Mason. Why? Because I am now helping to other very dear friends of mine as they travel that very same path. I'm glad I waited until I was truly ready for that journey in my life.

[Rage]

I am proud of being one of the top technical professionals in two industries.

I am proud of taking the chance, for moving from designing and building things that go into machine that kill people to designing medical devices that save people lives ever single day in every part of the world.

I am proud to have a beautiful daughter who is smarter then I will ever be.

I am proud to say that I survived the loss of my first wife and was lucky enough to find the wonderful woman who I am now engaged to and love dearly.

I am proud to have the courage to stand up for what I believe in.

I am proud to have many wonderful friends.

[Tremayne]

I am proud of doing layout and design for 3 issues of a kids magazine even though I have only minimal training in it--and even got a complement from a major contributor for changes I made. Deeply relieved that the stint is over though and the job will now be in more qualified hands.

I'm proud of having helped people resolve problem behaviors in their dogs so that they have happier relationships.

I'm proud of being a mentally flexible, innovative person.

[Lady Amy of York]

I am proud to be married to a wonderful, loving hard working man, who is a wonderful father to my son.

I am proud to be the mother of such a wonderful, sweet, good natured, and loving, and smart young boy.

I am proud to have my mom and dad as  my parents.

I am proud to be well liked and respected by my fellow peers.


I am proud that i remain strong during my battle with my illness the last three years, and that i did not let it get the best of me.   I am proud that i have not given up the fight, and that i get stronger and healthier  each day.
I am proud that i had the courage and strength to have the surgery done  this spring to remove the tumor.

I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful  Ren family  on here.

I am proud to be the pirate captain of a wonderful crew.

[Yrose]

I'm proud that my daughter is turning out to be a responsible, well rounded adult and that we can talk about anything. That she understands (maybe not at that moment) I'm tuff on her at times, but that it's because I love her.

[fluffy tail]

I am proud that I did retire from the Air Force after 20 years in a career field few women were in at the time, aircraft maintenance.

I am proud that because of said job above I'm now the first female maintenance machanic in our shop at work. And have been for the last 8 years.

I am proud to be well liked and respected by my peers.

I am proud I've never bounced a check or ran out of gas and always pay my bills on time or early.

I am proud that I am able to make my own garb and for family and friends.

[Charlotte Rowan]

We sure do have a lot of good reason to be proud around here.

I am proud of being a pretty flexible and easygoing person and my ability to take things in stride - I have worked hard for that ability!

I am proud that my first literary translation has been picked up by a publisher.

I am proud of being a good mama to my dog.

I am proud of having saved enough money over the last few years, through scrupulous budgeting, to be able to pay for my wedding with only minimal help from my parents. (Involves careful wedding planning too!)

[jinx]

I am proud to be the one that reads the book, rather than just saying "Oh, I'll watch the movie." (People at work find this odd.)

I am proud for having a 95 average (so far) in my Paralegal courses.

I am proud that I manage to drag myself out of bed at 5 every morning to go to a job that I don't really like.

I am proud that I've finally come to terms with myself as I am.

I am proud that I can tell people a whole list of rather "controversial" things about myself without batting an eye to whether they accept me or not.  (For example: "I believe that all religion is valid, I'm pro-choice, and my best friend is a transsexual.")

I am proud that I can make people laugh like mad.

[Queen Bonnie]

 I am proud that I have made it a year on my own. Gotten my drivers license. Gone to TRF by myself. Re mortgaged my home. Taken care of the many problems and bills a death can bring. I am still here.

[Gwen aka Punstergal]

I'm proud that I have (through strict budgeting, careful organization, tons of sacrifice of comfort, and giving up all social life temporarily) paid my family's debts down over $10k in the last year. It meant cashing out every cent of equity we had stashed anywhere, but we are officially $5k from being completely debt free (barring any sudden expenses).

I'm proud to be raising a beautiful daughter (15 months old now) who is bright and active and very well behaved compared to some children I've had the unfortunate "pleasure" of dealing with lately.

I'm proud of the fact that I am finally standing up for what *I* want and making decisions based on the direction I want my family to be headed.

[Tremayne]

I've been reading Jack Canfield's The Success Principles. One of the exercises he advises people to do is divide their lives into three equal time periods and list 3 successes for each period.

Birth to age 15:
Reading my first looong books
Learning to drive
Becoming a good rider

16-30:
Starting college at age 16
Leaving home
Doing an excellent job of training my first dog

31-45:
Returning to college and finishing my bachelors
Getting 100 poems published
Overcoming serious illness

And then he WAY ups the ante by asking people to make a list of 100 life successes!    And here we thought we were doing well to list 6-10 things.    Of course he said you can list things like learning to ride a bike or list passing each grade separately if need be. Anyway, thought it was a worthwhile challenge and decided to throw it out there.  Not that I think we should hit one another with lists of 100 here--but maybe 10 a day?

Here are my first 10:
Learning to swim
Learning to ride a bike
Making good friends in elementary school
Starting off my academic career well
[this is hard because I have a poor memory for my early years]
Learning to take care of my own laundry and making my own lunches
Learning to cook (not that I'm good at it--even the basics were sort of alien)
Overcoming a fear of the dark to walk home from friends' houses at night
Learning to analyze and evaluate
Not letting my brother goad me into senseless arguments
Learning to think before spending money that came my way

And one proud statement for today: I'm proud of having taken the risk involved in starting a business on a shoestring, for having faith in myself and going for it. 

[Dayna]

I'm proud of the fact that I devour books, that I'd rather read the book than listen to it on audio or go see the movie, and that I have the vocabulary to prove it. 

I'm proud that I never resorted to Cliff Notes and seldom if ever took the easy way out, preferring to do it the hard way so that I'd know how to do it again if I had to.

I'm proud that I survived over 30 years of undiagnosed chronic depression and anxiety, that I was able to learn how to live as an entirely new person after meds and therapy, and that I am unashamed to say that I will take anti-depressants for the rest of my life because in my case, mental illness Was and Is an illness which medications can control, just like diabetes.  You have it, you deal with it, it does not define you.

I am proud that after being driven close to bankruptcy by divorce and illness, I am within months of paying off both a $50,000 hospital bill and the mortgage I took out in Jan 2002.  Next January I will own my home and be completely debt-free with a credit score of over 800.  I am proud that I worked hard, did without and paid every cent I owed, that I have money in the bank for unexpected expenses as well as rebuilding my retirement savings.  I am proud that I was able to take the gifts I was given by the universe and turn them into a fulfilling and well-paying career.

I'm proud that having spent most of my life without friends, being seen as an arrogant thoughtless gloomy negative complaining person, I am now seen as a positive affirming person, very good at relating to people and understanding of differences in viewpoint and experience.  I am proud that my employer gives me continuingly responsible and challenging work for which I am publically recognized, and that I have recovered from past attempts at character assassination and built a better reputation for myself within the renaissance faire community than I ever enjoyed before.  I have friends all over the country who love me, care about me, contact me to make sure I'm ok if they haven't heard from me in a few days, invite me to stay in their homes and look forward to our getting together, where only a few years ago I was sure that if I died, no one would even notice until the smell leaked out into the neighborhood.

I am proud that I have taught myself new skills and ways to use old ones which enhance the lives of others as well as myself, that my needlework and beading skills are sought out and that I can travel to faires in other states and say "You see that garment, I did the handwork on it".  I am proud of who I have become and happier than I have ever been. 

I am also extremely grateful and humbled for and by the people who stayed by me during my troubles, who refused to listen to gossip, who supported me as I struggled to emerge from who I was and celebrate with me the person I am now.  Life is about taking the cards you're dealt and making the best you can out of them, I have been fortunate in being able to use other people's discards to enhance my hand.

Dayna