“You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise L. Hay
When we talk about love, we usually mean the love we receive from other people or from the outside. I fell in love with my parents, the moment I was born. I fell in love with the movies, places, food and the monuments the moment they connected with my soul, and made me feel alive. I know about love. I have felt love. But the one thing I find it hard to feel and to do is – Self Love. As if, my body had only known the love other than my own. I have never felt that way about me.
Either my face is too skinny, or my eyes are drowning in the dark circles. Either I walk too fast or I walk too slowly. Either I am a failure or a person who can never achieve a simple task like waking up early. This is the kind of love I provide to my body. Don’t get me wrong, I am not always this negative. Self – doubt is a real thing and everyone faces it. But, this kind of thing is limited to me only. I love many people and things, and I always try to understand everything deeply so that I can love others without any judgments. The same thing is what I want from myself.
Self – love is not about being selfish. It is not about appreciating yourself even when you do something wrong. Self – love is the opposite of that. It means that you own up about every little thing you do – be it good or bad. It is about listening to all of your worries without labeling them. It is about knowing about your fears and providing comfort. It is about setting minimum expectations from yourself just like the way you expect from life.
We take our body for granted. We do not feed it well. We always rely on others for the love which should be sourced from the inside first. We expect high, criticize more, love less and suffer more. Can we really love ourselves? It is sure is a difficult thing to do because it is about being very honest to yourself. Can we do that? Yes, I guess.
Self – love is a journey which heals all of your invisible wounds. It is a part of your soul. For me, this year is all about giving and receiving love and becoming more patient and kind. Change starts from within right? So let us give ourselves love and a little more comfort and see how well it nourishes us. I am ending this article with a happy note and some few lines from the Bible about love:
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”