Self-love is often the forgotten love as we all run around with our busy lives and day-to-day activities. It’s also one of the most important parts of our lives. Everyone has heard the phrase, “can’t love someone until you love yourself”. From a mental and emotional standpoint, self-love should be at the top of the checklist.
There are multiple ways to practice self-love, one of the easiest and fastest ways is to cast out the idea that you must be perfect. No one is ever going to be perfect, it's impossible. Perfect doesn’t exist except when it’s edited on social media. You are enough and you can tell yourself that daily.
Building a loving and caring community is another way to build self-love. We were not meant to be loners. You and I need social interaction, but we need it to be healthy. We need the support and love from people around us to stay motivated and happy. There is evidence to show that positive energy and vibes are contagious.
Sitting at a desk all day, standing behind a cash register, whatever your job/day-to-day life is it can be challenging to escape it all. Finding your happy place is something that must be worked on. Sit quietly and think of a place that’s simple, quiet, and makes you feel happy. Close your eyes and embrace the feeling of calmness while you recenter your balance.
As humans, we tend to hold onto things. Things happen to us and for whatever reason, we feel the need to bring it in and never let go. It’s important to learn to let things go. Holding onto trauma, anger, or frustration can weigh heavy on us mentally and physically. It can lower our self-esteem however, the more we can let go and give in to the universe and the moment, the more we can sit in our own self-love.
With everything happening in the world and feeling like it’s all moving too fast it can be difficult to put yourself first. Maybe you have children, or a partner, or work is bleeding into your personal life. At the end of the day, all you have is yourself and if you’re not taking time out of your day and doing stuff for yourself you can’t grow. You’ll be watering everyone else forgetting about you.
We’ve all been there, scrolling through social media and you see a post and immediately without thinking compare yourself. Stop comparing yourself to others, a comparison is a self-love killer, and most of the time we aren’t nice to ourselves when we compare. Practice talking to yourself as you would talk to a friend. Reassuring, kind, and loving are the emotions we want to lead with when talking to ourselves.
Life is going to throw curveballs and we know it. Be compassionate when life hits you with a problem. Most of us (myself included) will beat ourselves down when life throws her problems at us. When we fail or mess up it’s okay. That’s life and that’s going to happen. Choose to love and forgive yourself when things don’t go the way you wanted them to. Ask yourself “what do I need” and don’t be afraid to give it to yourself.
Learn to love yourself. We’re all different and think differently. What works for one person might not work for the next. You are you, so don’t be afraid to explore what you need and what feels good for yourself. Your self-love journey will be different from your friends. What matters is the outcome, not the journey, play around with strategies and find out what makes you feel loved.