I remember as a teen my mom telling me that however I thought of myself would determine what others thought of me, what she didn’t say was that if I truly loved myself, what others thought would really not matter.
Self love did not come easy for me, I have two disastrous marriages and two horribly failed long term relationships to my credit (or discredit) I started college when I was 29, to say I don’t always make great decisions is a huge understatement. I tend to lose myself in a relationship and become whatever my partner wants me to be, or try to, then all of a sudden they don’t like how I have changed, and I really don’t like myself either. I spent 12 years with a man who never liked or respected me as a person and that really took it’s toll. I started to believe that I was, in fact, a person not worthy of opinions, a self-fulfilling prophecy if ever there was one. When I left him he apologized for not loving me, after so many years of marriage, what is that?
Anyway, years of being on my own, and some therapy, have caused me to find that I am not so bad after all. Sometimes when your life falls apart it really is so that it can come back together stronger than ever, and better than you ever dreamed possible.
When you learn to love yourself you want to do good things for yourself. I spent years forcing my body to work long shifts on very little sleep, forced it so much that it literally quit on me. Now I listen to my body, I exercise, eat good food that fuels it properly, sleep when it is tired, and generally be good to it. Sometimes that includes a graham cracker with Nutella, don’t judge me, I love it.
Loving yourself also means forgiving others, if you love yourself you don’t want to carry around all those bad feelings all the time. You reflect your thoughts, so if you think loving thoughts your eyes and your smile will reflect love and beauty, I truly believe that. I also believe that self-love dictates how we treat others, treat other people with love and compassion, no matter how they treat you, treat yourself with love and compassion.
Strengthen your mind, strengthen your spirit, hang out with your friends, love your family, love yourself, love your God.
About the author:
MamaSteph has 2 kids by birth and several by love, she is a nurse and enjoys finding healthier ways to make comfort foods, gardening, enjoying nature, and living life to the fullest…For a list of her blogs please click here.
