How To Love Yourself

Do you often find it easier to love other people than yourself? Or have you concluded that cant be loved? Well, guess what? There’s only one ‘why’ to this; you’re not practicing self-love- and you need to start doing that now. If you’re worried where to start, worry less, this article will guide you through your journey of self-love.

But first, understand that you’re not alone. Several other people feel this way as well. After you finish reading this article, it’s my hope that there’ll be one less of those people who don’t love themselves.

Like any other habits, self-love can be cultivated, and some of the ways to do that are listed below for you.

Know and Accept Who You are

The first and truest act of loving yourself is knowing yourself. You can’t love what you don’t know, can you?
Take the necessary time and efforts to not only discover but truly understand who you are. Be honest with yourself, what is that you like about you (if you can’t think of anything, recall what other people have complimented you on in the past, if you think deep enough, you will definitely find something)? What is it that you don’t like about yourself? Write them all down.

Then, focus more attention on those things you like about yourself, while you work on those you don’t like that you can change – and learn to accept those things you cannot change.

Remember, no one should know or love you better than you. And once you know and completely accept your flaws, it becomes really difficult for someone else to use them against you.

Discard Negative thoughts

Have you stopped to think of the streams of negative thoughts we usually permit to flow through our mind? Whether or not you’re aware of it, your thoughts are shaping your lives- for good or bad depending on what thoughts you permit. Whatever you’re today is the outcome of your thoughts.

Hence, choose to think of and speak kindly to yourself. Counter every negative thought with positive ones always. Ellie Holcomb suggests, “When you make a mistake, respond to yourself in a loving way rather than a self-shaming way.” This will greatly boost your confidence and improve your self-esteem in no small way. Whatever words you would not use to describe your best friend, don’t describe yourself with it.

More so, resolve in your mind to never let people’s opinion of you define who you are.

Never Compare Yourself To Other People

Comparison is the greatest thief of self-love and could lead to a low self-esteem. No matter who you are, what you do or where you are, there’s always going to be someone seemingly better looking, more skillful and more intelligent than you. But in reality, no one is better or worse than you. They’re just different from you.

You must come to accept that people are unique in their own different ways. And the best of someone else you can be is a second class of such person.

Of course, no man is perfect, no one has ever been or will ever be. The only thing is, people are extremely good at covering up their pains with smiles, while going through the worst on the inside. So, if you’re judging and grading yourself based on what people are portraying to you – which in most cases is fake – you’re indeed on a long journey to misery and unhappiness.

The only comparison that’s allowed is who you are now versus who you could have been. When you adopt this mindset, not only will you realize what a waste of time and efforts it is to live your life according to other people’s, but the joy of truly accepting and loving yourself.

In conclusion

Sometimes it so happens that no matter how much you try, there’s always that inner identity that makes you feel less of what you really are. However, as long as you don’t love yourself, nothing in life will bring you joy, or happiness. You’ll always feel less deserving and unworthy.  And, The only way to conquer this is by practicing self-love, and the best time to start is now.
Finally, I leave you with these set of beautiful words from De. Seuss
“Today you are you! That is truer than true!
There is no one alive who is you-er than you!
Shout loud, ‘I am lucky to be what I am!.’”
To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness