You Should Go and Love Yourself

Humor me, if you will, and try this strategy that I’ve been working on.

Close your eyes. Think about the people you love most in this world. Think about what you would do to protect them and what you do every day to nurture them and let them know you care. Imagine a few lines that you would say to them right now to express your love for them.

Now…envision yourself in your mind’s eye. Do you grant yourself that same protection and nurturing every day? Do you say loving things like this to yourself?

I’m going to venture to guess that many of us, including me, do quite the opposite. We do not speak kindly to ourselves at all. In fact, we do the complete opposite. We beat ourselves up for not being enough. “I’m not a good enough mom/dad, wife/husband, daughter/son, friend, boss, colleague… {insert role of your choice here}”. We beat ourselves up for not doing enough. “I should weigh less, exercise more, work harder, be a better friend…{insert action of your choice here}”.

We NEED to change this narrative, folks!!! We must think kinder thoughts about ourselves and speak more lovingly to ourselves - the same way we speak to our most precious loved ones. We are all we have at the end of the day. Until you love yourself the way you love others (and the way others love you), we won’t fully have the confidence or courage to live fully and wholeheartedly.

Loving yourself isn’t about vanity or selfishness or cockiness. True self love is about respecting yourself and allowing yourself grace to do the very best you can, every day. When you feel loved, you can safely acknowledge that we all make mistakes; our self-love allows us to forgive and keep moving forward towards a better of version of ourselves each and every day.

This isn’t an easy practice…but goddamn, it’s a worthwhile one. Just start by paying attention to your thoughts. When that judging, belittling voice starts to creep in to your subconscious, STOP and decide if you would say such things to your nearest and dearest. If you wouldn’t say it to those you love most in this world, then do not say it to YOU. You are all you’ve got at the end of the day…and I’m here to remind you that you are pretty damn special.

Peace & Love,