It May Seem Difficult and Awkward, But We All Can Learn to Love Ourselves More

Someone once said that if you can’t love yourself, how will you ever love someone else? Self-love is rather important, but is neither something that comes naturally to us, nor something easy to achieve, especially in a world that frowns upon an assertive self-confidence or love towards ourselves. How do you love yourself more?

Realize that it is not selfish

Creator: Rosana Zannetti Fait | Copyright: Rosana Zanetti Fait

It’s not at all selfish to love yourself, and is essentially an act of survival. Though taught to put others first, this isn’t a healthy way to live and can cause burn-out, with unhappiness and non-fulfillment in our lives. Remember that you are the most important person in your life, and it is certainly not selfish, but essential to focus on yourself and your needs before helping others. What can you pour from the empty cup?

Remember why self-love is important

If we love ourselves, we value ourselves more and look after our needs. When we comprehend our own importance, we ensure our bodies are fed well and look after our minds and emotions positively, thereby helping us live our lives comprehensively and fully. If you love yourself, you continue to thrive in other aspects of your life, such as your career, relationships and then the self-love snowballs and keeps growing.

Listen to the voice within

Creator: Kritchanut

With everything else that goes on in our lives, we often forget to listen to our inner voice and quite often, we drown it out. Make conscious efforts to tune in to your inner voice, reflect on what you are feeling, and your needs. Listen to it as though it is somebody else speaking, and possibly write down what you are hearing. This helps you tune into yourself and allows you to be familiar with the all-important voice within.

Understand that it is not an overnight fix

Though we would like to say that it takes is a simple decision to love yourself and suddenly it becomes so, that is never the case. Loving yourself is a long-term game and will be possible with active decisions to achieve; but, it always gets easier. When you realize the benefits of loving yourself, it will become much more naturally, and after you develop healthy habits and attitudes that form the bed-rock of your self-love, you just keep building on these foundations. There are bound to be knock-backs, but if you persevere, it is worth it in the long run.

Trust your gut

If your gut tries to tell you something, instead of silencing it, as we often do, go with it. Try for one whole day, to tune into your gut feelings, acting only on them, instead of over-thinking everything. This is unsustainable in the long run, but hopefully helps you to focus on what you truly wish to do, but that is often shoved aside for things you think you ought to do. As with everything in life, there is a fine balance, but by honouring personal needs and desires, you begin feeling more loved.

Conclusion

Creator: Ирина Мещерякова | Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto

Make conscious efforts to love yourself much more right now. Start by giving yourself the dignity, love, care, and respect that you provide to those very close to you and observe the changes in your life. You surely deserve utmost love, especially from yourself!