"I want some positive advice on how to learn self love."
I then realized that out of the over 300 blog posts here at Blessing Manifesting I don't think any of them accurately cover what that question asks.
After a little bit of thought I came up with what I believe is the best way to start the journey and to begin loving yourself.
You can also read about my Self Love Journey in the 2013 Self Love Planner!
Fix what needs to be fixed. Accept what needs to be accepted.
Right now I could tell you that you should love and accept yourself just how you are, and that's true to some extent. You are deserving of love just as you are in this moment, no matter how flawed or broken you perceive yourself to be.But...
To really love yourself, you gotta be someone worth loving, in your own opinion. I'll tell you a little bit about me. Before I started my self love journey I was extremely depressed, I had so many anger issues, and I had terrible impulse control. I was a big ol' meanie. Was I worth loving? Absolutely, but I couldn't do it.
So I fixed what I needed to fix. I started trying alternative methods to improve my moods, I researched anger management, I did the work and when I started to see the results and the subtle changes not only did I feel proud, but I felt the love.
I'm not saying that you need to change yourself, to love yourself by any means. I think the first step is to look at yourself and look at your life and ask yourself:
What's stopping you?
Sit with that answer, feel it out, and ask yourself if what happens next is change or acceptance. There's no 'right way'. I have tons of flaws, believe me, they are there and sometimes they are glaring, but none of them stop me from loving myself. I accept them as part of who I am. I know that I am not perfect and I know that I don't need to be.
Which brings us to point number two...
Realize that you don't have to be perfect to be loved.
Truer words were never typed. If you wait until you are perfect to love yourself you will be waiting forever. If you aren't a parent, imagine you are, the minute you see your child, you fall in love with them simply because they exist.You probably have someone in your life that you love unconditionally don't you?
Why do you love them? Because it's worth it, because they are worth it. Reflect that back to yourself. No matter what, you're worth loving. You hold so much awesomeness right inside of you, so much love for other people, so many big dreams and hopes and if all that isn't worth loving, then I don't know what is.
Get to know yourself.
Seriously! Figure out who you are and what you want. Discover what you believe and know what your values are. It's just like dating someone new, you really have to figure out who they are before you fall in love.Forgive yourself.
Let go of past, let go of your bad deeds, let go of your shame. Live your amends. If you've done something bad, then live your life in a good way, in a positive way. Putting that out into the world does more good than hating yourself ever could.Forgive other people too. If someone put you down, if your parents or an ex-spouse or partner made you feel like you weren't good enough, or you weren't worth loving, let that go and forgive yourself. Holding on to that serves no purpose for you or anyone else. Letting go of that baggage is so (veryvery) hard, but it's worth it. Cross my heart.
Practice Self Care.
Make time to do things for yourself. Making time for the things that you love and the things that make you feel good is so important. It's putting into action what you are already feeling. Self Love and Self Care go hand in hand, one is the feeling and one is the action. It's the equivalent of a big ol' hug, or a passionate kiss, to yourself. You wouldn't love someone who never showed you affection or did anything nice for you now would ya!?Don't give up.
Rome wasn't built in a day. If you're just now starting your journey, it might be rough going for a little while. You might get frustrated, you might feel like giving up, or that it's too much work, or it's stupid, or you'll never be good enough, or it's not important enough but let me tell you a secret:If you don't give up, it's going to happen.
It's worth your time.
You are so worth the time and the effort.
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