Loving yourself can be one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. I have found from personal experience, that you can’t love others till you love yourself. I have a divorce decree to prove it. One of the last things I told the ex the day we split up, was this…”I’m sorry that I cannot please you. I love you so much that I want you happy no matter what…even if it’s with someone else. But first, you need to learn to love yourself.” I’m thankful to say that he has found his true love. We’ve both moved on and found a way to love ourselves and our soul mates.
I found that after the divorce, I had a lot of learning to do for loving my own self, too. I still am my own worst critic. While we all want more out of life, we have to find contentment with who we are at THIS moment in time- wherever we are in our crazy journey. We are created in the image of God and we are uniquely who we are for a reason. Isn’t it about time that we celebrate how far we have came thus far? It’s time to be POSITIVE, ensuring our daily attitude shows it.
Loving yourself is NOT selfish…it’s necessary!
Here are 5 tips on how you can learn to love yourself?
- Accept who you are! Aren’t you glad you are not like some miserable self-centered person you may know? SEE- it’s great to be you!
- Make a list of all of your positive attributes. Tape them to your bathroom mirror and read them daily. Post a copy in your car. You need the extra reminder. Celebrate each of those items on your list…every single day!
- Make time for yourself. This doesn’t mean time to read the book of faces. Go for a walk. Sit quietly in the sun to catch some rays of vitamin D. Meditate. Go for a mani or pedi. Treat yourself to a movie and laugh your butt off.
- What ever makes your heart happy, do that!
- Be proactive in taking care of yourself. No one else will ever do this for you…you have to man-up and work daily to be the best version of YOU!
Through daily choices, you can learn to love yourself! What will you work on today, this week, this year?
For me, I declared it as “Love Angie Week”. It is fitting since it is Valentine’s Day today! It seems that I took item #5 to the max. I went for my yearly gynecology appointment, had my yearly mammogram, and went for my 6 month dental cleaning. Every day I proactively seek ways to make “me” more healthy and strong. I want to grow old (like, real old) with those I love. I want as many days as possible with them (and those mini-me’s to come). It all starts with me!
Love yourself so that you can love others longer.
