“If you want to soar in life, you must learn to F.L.Y. (First Love Yourself)“
-Mark Sterling
These words are so important to remember. So many times we, wish for change and embark on a journey towards it, but forget this incredibly important piece of the puzzle.
Self-love is such a critical part of achieving life long change and personal growth. When we love ourselves we’re happier and have more energy. This allows us to foster habits that promote our better selves.
This concept can sometimes feel contradictory because we’ve been taught from a very young age to put others first. It is true that we need to be kind, loving, and generous to others and respect and care for their feelings, but nowhere does this say we can’t and shouldn’t treat ourselves with the same care and respect.
In order to be our best selves, we must remember that we are important and our lives and feelings matter. The more we love and care for ourselves the more we will be able to love and care for others.
If we don’t love ourselves we run the risk of becoming jaded, disgruntled and angry. This is because when we lack self-love we are unable to see all the wonderful blessings that surround us.
It is easy to get sucked into negative self-talk. Everything in the media tells us there is something better than what we have. A better body, better looks, better house, better job, a better car, better clothes, you name it there is someone, somewhere telling us there’s a better version than what we have.
We need to stand strong and remind ourselves that these are lies created to make us feel inadequate and unworthy. We have to be grateful for what we have. Our love and appreciation for what we have will grow positive feelings within ourselves. These positive feelings will create a new sense of energy and vibrancy within us. With this new found energy we will be able to succeed at things we never thought possible. It is then we will truly be able to soar in life.
When we love ourselves we are better equipped to love and help others. We are able to see the whole picture. Being able to see the whole picture instead of just a piece of it will help us make better decisions. Through this new point of view, we will begin to see opportunities we never did in the past.
Learning to love ourselves may seem difficult or sometimes even impossible, but it’s NOT impossible. We CAN do it. Each and every one of us has the ability to STOP our negative self-talk and START loving ourselves just the way we are. We just have to make the conscious decision to try.
Start small. Look in the mirror and say ”I deserve to be loved. I am good enough. I do matter. I am strong. I am brave. I am smart. I am beautiful. I love myself exactly as I am.” Keep repeating this over and over and over again until you start to believe it, and if you start to doubt yourself or that evil little voice in your head begins to contradict you say it LOUDER and with more determination. It won’t be long before you realize your love for yourself is becoming stronger and your negative feelings are becoming less frequent. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be loved. You are worth it, and you deserve whatever it is your heart desires.