Feeling Proud: A Guide to Your Emotions

PUBLISHED Mar 11th, 2021 & UPDATED ON Jan 25th, 2023

The smile on your face is reaching from ear to ear. Your chest is puffed out. You feel confident and accomplished. And to top it all off, even your hair is perfectly coiffed today too! What’s got you in such a good mood? Well, you’re feeling proud as fuck right now! You’re proud of who you are and what you’ve done, and you’re celebrating it. Way to go! Can we celebrate together for a second? Ok. Ready? Go!

Tiny little online dance party.

That was fun! Now, let’s talk about why you’re feeling this way. Even though you’re feeling on top of the fucking world, it’s still nice to break down this feeling of pride when you’re experiencing it. Why? So that you can learn to feel proud of yourself more often! We want you to be the happiest version of yourself always, so let’s learn about being proud together.

A Deeper Look at Feeling Proud

Feeling proud is the best. What you’ve done is totally awesome and you know it. You’ve worked really hard to achieve it, and what you’ve done for yourself — or others — deserves to be celebrated.

It might’ve been something as simple as taking a shower and making sure that you’ve had enough water to drink today. AMAZING! That can be some really hard shit to do when we’re feeling low, so we’re proud of you. You could’ve also discovered a new planet, flew a spaceship, landed on it, and are about to study it for the rest of your life. ALSO AMAZING! Accomplishments, both major and minor, should be celebrated (and we’re here to do that with you!).

Let’s break down the word “proud.” According to Dictionary.com, “feeling pleasure and satisfaction because you or people connected with you have done or got something good.” Take your pet, for example. You could be proud of them for not bunny-kicking you awake to feed them at 5am. But let’s focus on you right now!

You can be proud of yourself for a number of reasons. You can be proud of who you are! You’re a good person and you should be proud of how you treat others as you walk through this world. So, be proud of yourself when you look at people with kindness and care.

Feeling proud of yourself is even something to be proud of. In a world where we’re constantly told that we have to hustle and grind and work until we break, being proud of who you are and what you’ve done is an amazing achievement itself.

Be proud of how hard you’re trying. You’re going against the grain and you’re doing it AMAZINGLY! You’ve also come a loooooong way. We don’t know your life story (obvs), but we bet you’re in a totally different place in your life than you were even just a year ago!

How Feeling Proud Shows Up Mentally

Pride doesn’t always have to be related to being stubborn, self-indulgent, and egotistical like it’s usually made out to be. It can be about celebrating all that you’ve achieved! YOU DESERVE A LITTLE SELF LOVE PRIDE PARTY! This little internal love parade brings along with it a whooooole basket of positive emotions and we’re gonna tell you what they are:

– Self-love

– Self-respect

– Happiness

– Feelings of accomplishment

– Confidence

– Self-assurance

Your mental health and fortitude are going to skyrocket! Why? Because you deserve it, baby! And honestly, we love that for you. Pride in yourself should be celebrated and cherished.

How Feeling Proud Shows Up Physically

When your mind and soul feel good, your body feels good. You might have a little extra pep in your step and feel like the world is a little bit brighter today. You’re probably feeling super good mentally, so let’s talk about how this amazing feeling of pride shows up physically.

– Increased energy

– Better sleep

– Increased self-esteem

– Boosted productivity

– Increased resilience

You also might be walking a little taller than usual too, but honestly that’s just a cute little bonus, don’t you think? You could grow an extra inch just from being proud! That would be pretty great in our opinion. And we also think that you deserve that extra inch! Stand tall and proud, friend!

5 Ways to Embrace Feeling Proud

Embrace this feeling! Get excited about it! Feeling proud of yourself is an amazing and wonderful way to feel and for some of us, it doesn’t come around as often as it should. So how can you keep feeling proud? We’ve got you covered:

1. Engage in something creative

Crochet, paint, draw, knit, and create whatever you want to! You can sit with this awesome emotion of pride while doing something that you truly enjoy. Flexing your creative side is an awesome way to enjoy your time while feeling awesome and proud!

2. Journal

Write down why you’re feeling so proud. This will help you foster this pride and remind yourself why you deserve to feel proud of yourself! You can always look back on what you’ve written and remember your amazing accomplishments.

3. Connect with a friend

Call up your bestie and brag about yourself! Your best friend is there to help hype you up so invite them into your little party and get excited together. You’re allowed to get excited and feel this pride, and having someone else there to celebrate with you makes it just that much sweeter!

4. Practice gratitude

Remembering what you’re grateful for can help you realize all the incredible things that you’ve achieved. You have a roof over your head. INCREDIBLE! Water? AMAZING! A bed to sleep in? PHENOMENAL! Everything that you’re grateful for should be celebrated and you should feel proud of yourself for making it happen.

5. Meditate

Sitting in a meditative state with this feeling of pride can help you learn more about this emotion and help you foster it. That way, you can bring it up within yourself more often. Who wouldn’t want to feel this amazing sensation of pride whenever you want? We think that sounds pretty fricking great.

We are so proud of you for feeling proud of yourself! Like we said, people aren’t nearly as proud of themselves as often as they should be and YOU’VE MANAGED TO DO IT! What an achievement! Now, keep feeling proud today, tomorrow, and every day. You deserve it!