Love Yourself, and the Rest Will Follow

Self-love is what we’re often searching for – in our work, our relationships, and our lives. Sadly, we spend most of our time thinking that someone or something else can give us what only we can give ourselves. To be truly fulfilled, we have to find the love within us and give it to ourselves.

Here are a few things to think about and practice as you deepen your capacity for loving yourself:

1) Notice your relationship to self love

How do you feel about self-love and self-care? How comfortable are you with these important things and what resistance do you have to loving and caring for yourself? Being honest about your own relationship to self-love is the first step in altering it.

2) Let go of your conditions.

When it comes to loving ourselves, if we even put much attention on it, we often do so in a very conditional way. We love ourselves only when we do “good” things, “succeed” in specific ways, or take care of ourselves in ways we deem important.

While there’s nothing wrong with us feeling good about ourselves in relation to these and other positive things, truly loving ourselves is an unconditional process – which means accepting, appreciating, and celebrating all of who we are, both light and dark.

3) Start practicing, right now.

Do anything and everything you can to express love for yourself – right now, not after you think you “deserve” it. There are lots of things we can do – both big and small – to practice loving ourselves. Speaking kindly about ourselves, taking compliments graciously, taking care of ourselves, honoring and embracing our emotions, pampering ourselves, celebrating our successes (and failures), appreciating and loving our “flaws,” and much more are all simple (although not always easy) things we can do to practice self-love.

Read the complete article available at Thrive Global!

Reflection:

Do you love yourself enough?

#Self-love #Self-reflection #MentalHealth

If you liked this article, you might also like, "The Self-Love Dilemma: 7 Ways To Loosen The Ego’s Grip"