The past two weeks I wrote about thoughts. First about controlling our thoughts & that positive thinking is a choice we can all make to change our lives. Last week I wrote about fear & how that is a thought that also can be managed & overcome.
At the root of making any changes or improvement in our lives is self-love. Loving who you are as a person, completely. We have to love ourselves so much that we are worth spending time on ourselves to make improvements, to have quiet time or time to reflect.
I think a lot of cultures teach us not to love ourselves. To understate our talents & even to talk badly about ourselves, our bodies & our abilities. This is such a shame as the quote above says:
Love starts within. You must love yourself first before you can give it away to others.
The root of love for others is love for ourself. We have to start our journey by loving ourself. And as the very wise Lucille Ball tells us, loving yourself is what it takes to make it in the world.
Not only is self-love the root of loving others, it’s also the way to get ahead in the world. Self-love promotes self-confidence & self-assurance. Others notice a confident person. They are listened to & become leaders.
So how to begin the journey of self-love? Charlie Chaplin on his 70th birthday, wrote about his journey with self-love. He cut out the things that weren’t good for him. Later he realized that this is loving yourself.
It’s not easy to love yourself when you have held negative thoughts your whole life. Feeling insecure, unwanted, less worthy than others. It won’t happen overnight, it will be a process but a process that is well worth the effort!
This next quote goes through the steps involved with loving yourself. Each one needs to be accepted & internalized in the realization that you are a wonderful, special & unique person worthy of love from yourself & others.
Wouldn’t it be great if we taught our children to love themselves & to be confident in themselves? It’s not easy growing up or in the teen years but if we gave our kids more support I think it would help immensely. And for us adults, it’s never too late to start loving yourself, accepting yourself & valuing yourself.
I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. x
