So much of society today is based around love, the
search for love, finding the perfect love, but the basis for all love in this
world should start with self love. Self
love and self care are important aspects of living an emotionally healthy life. Unfortunately society has taught us that
putting ourselves and our own needs as a priority is “selfish” and not the
right way to live.
It is important in the hectic day to day way we live
now as a culture to realize that if we only focus on others we tend to burn
ourselves out. We cannot constantly be
giving and loving to others without first loving and caring for ourselves if we
want any long term balance.
Think of it as burning an oil lamp constantly without
ever thinking about a need to refill it.
It will eventually run out and you will be left in darkness.
There are many ways you can give love to yourself, such
as meditation, journaling, yoga, Reiki, and massage. But instead of focusing on a one time gift to
yourself, try having a self love practice every day. You don’t have to take hours out of your day
to do it, if you practice it more often.
And as with anything, the more you practice, the easier it will become.
The first thing to remember, no matter what way you
choose to feed your soul, is that you must start with compassion for
yourself. This can be very
difficult. For many people we are taught
that we are not worthy unless we are giving to others, or unless we are
“proving” our worth by some kind of activity or action.
This is not true.
You are worthy of love and compassion just for being you. As you are in this moment, without having to
do anything or be any certain way, you are worthy of love and happiness.
Even if you don’t “believe it” in your heart, behave
like you do and it will come eventually.
There is a reason “fake it till you make it,” is an important
mantra. It won’t take long if you truly
give love to yourself before you will begin to believe you truly do deserve it.
Everyone is unique, so your version of self love and
self care might look different that the next person’s. What you choose as your self-love activity
isn’t as important as the way it makes you feel. Choose anything you like to do, go to the
movies, listen to an album, read a book, as long as it makes you feel, happy,
calm, relaxed or fulfilled. Any of these
emotions will start to refill your tank.
The important thing is that you seek out activities on a regular basis
that make you laugh, or relax the tension in your shoulders, something that
challenges your mind, or calms it, whichever is the most fulfilling thing for
you.
The more you make yourself a priority, the more energy
you will have for everything and everyone else.
