Easing Up and Feelin' Good

Hey all! So, it's been a while... so I thought I was due for an update.
So that whole purple bracelet thing? Yeeeah... that kinda disappeared. My workplace underwent some pretty big management changes and the new managers forbade the wearing of bracelets and rings at work (which I suppose makes sense, since I work with food sometimes), so I had to remove the thing and then I lost it and kind of forgot about it. BUT, I did learn a thing or two from it and now that I'm conscious of how much I actually do complain, I've found that I've been doing it less, without even thinking about it! In fact, I feel that I've progressed so much, and am continuing to progress enough, that I feel no need to pick up the challenge again. At least, not for now. It was a bit stressful. Productive, enlightening, challenging, yes! But stressful. With all of my school prepping and such, I'm pretty happy with the pace I'm going at now. Just livin' life and keeping it positive!
I taught a really great lesson two Sundays ago on Charity and I learned something pretty spectacular-- to develop feelings of Charity for others, you have to love yourself! I've heard it time and time again, but I think this time it really clicked. Whenever I hear people say that I need to love myself, it makes me cringe. I don't want to be full of myself! But now it all makes sense.
If all my thoughts about myself are negative (keeping in mind that I'm with myself 24/7), and I'm constantly putting myself down, then I'm filling my head with negativity and criticism. I've noticed that people who are really hard on themselves are often really hard on others, and now I see why. If I can't learn to forgive my own flaws and accept that I'm not perfect, how can I learn to forgive other peoples' shortcomings and love them for the good they do have? Often, I think I make myself out to be worse than I really am, choosing to focus on all the negatives and none of the positives, and I make other people out to be either just as bad as I am (to validate myself), or I make them out to be creatures without any flaws because I choose to see only their good points and none of their bad. Where's the victory in loving someone whom you believe has no flaws? There's a certain beauty in being able to look at myself and others, see the good and the bad and be full of love and optimism!
So anyway, that's what I've been thinking about lately. Cool stuff :)