Self Love

“You must love yourself before anyone else can . . .”

The above statement is old and true. Why? Simply, if you don’t show yourself love and compassion no matter what anyone says or does, it will feel as if there is never “enough.”

We hear a lot in today’s culture about self-care. Well, self-love is the foundation of self-care. These two should not be confused (and often are) with selfishness or self-esteem.

Recently, I interviewed Marci Shimoff, author of Love for No Reason. I loved what she said, “Self-love is loving yourself for no reason while self-esteem is loving yourself because of a certain thing (i.e., I love myself because I have amazing blue eyes).”

One of the synonyms for selfishness is stingy! When I read that it was like a V8 moment. If one is selfish, they are stingy with their time, their energy, their love, etc., not only with others (believe it or not), but with themselves too!

Everyday love means that each day you are expressing to yourself how much you are excited that you are here on this planet at this time! And, to me that is not selfish at all. That gives you fuel to create, nurture, transform, etc. It doesn’t take a lot of time out of your day. It can be done while doing something else and is the simplest task of your day. Some of the benefits that I have expressed in simply offering myself support and love each day are:

• Less stress
• Less conflict
• Less friction in my relationships
• A more positive attitude
• An openness to try new things
• A more successful life

So how can you start practicing loving yourself everyday love? Below are a couple of suggestions to get you started:

• Construct a loving statement to yourself and read it aloud each day (i.e., I am love, I am loving, I am lovable.)
• Listen to yourself—Don’t ignore your feelings. Don’t ignore your body. Both your body and your emotions are trying to give you some soulful information to help you create the life you desire.

Watch what you say—Often we censor ourselves around children because we are afraid they will pick up what we are staying and repeat it. We are saying unkind and unloving things to ourselves every moment of each day. Here’s your chance just to be aware and then pause and repeat your loving statement to yourself

Can you imagine if you are meant to live every moment of everyday feeling blissful and at peace? Does that sound like something you want to participate in? The first step to that utopia starts with a simple gesture of love towards yourself (and you won’t have to worry about loving anyone else because your love for yourself will naturally spill over into every part of your life).