Self love. Two words that make or break people. Why is it that we are so hard on ourselves? Why do we say things that we wouldn’t dare say to anyone else? Why is it that we are the first to point out something wrong or “flawed” about ourselves, while overlooking the many wonderful qualities we have? I’ll tell you why. Society makes it incredibly easy for us to become our own bully. Magazines are constantly shoving their idealistic look in our faces. The beauty industry is setting “brow goals” and health advertisements are of tall, toned and perfectly fit looking models. Contrary to what the media is telling us, we are good enough the way we are. A nose job won’t make us appear any more smarter than we are. A new blazer won’t earn you the promotion at work, but YOU will. You are good enough the way you are.
I was scrolling through Instagram yesterday when I came across this video of my friend Sam, who is a life coach. In this video she reminds us of how important it is to love ourselves. Last week I wrote “if you can not take
Instagram: @lifecoachsam
care of yourself and love yourself, how can you expect to do the same for others? You can not do great things, if you do not feel great”. Piggybacking off of that, I can not emphasize how important it is to love yourself. If you are constantly seeing the negativity and lack of beauty inside of you, how can you expect to see it within others or around you? Preaching about love is great, but you have to practice it in order for that to become the truth.
I googled the words “self love” and quite honestly was surprised with what the search results were. I was expecting to see tabloids scolding us for not practicing this and models saying “love yourself no matter what you look like” as the caption underneath a perfect bikini photo. However, my computer screen was flooded with positivity. There were articles about “10 ways you can show yourself some extra love”, “why it’s important to love yourself” and “how to love yourself”. We need more of this in the world. As we learned last week, it’s perfectly okay to take a break from things and reevaluate your life and where your priorities are. That is called putting yourself first. Let me tell you something else. Another way of doing this, is by loving yourself.
Resource: Google
After all, self love is the most “desirable” characteristic a friend, co-worker, family member or significant other can posses. You can not pour love into others, if your cup is empty. I promise as soon as you ease up on yourself and take time to love who you are, the happier you will become.
Photo by Courtney Clinkert, edited by Macaila Britton.
This Week’s Challenge:
I was inspired to make week nine’s challenge based off of Sam’s Instagram video. I really like what she said about saying a positive affirmation out loud to ourselves. Despite how silly it may sound, give it a go!
Every time you see yourself in the mirror or catch your reflection in a window or the side of a building, tell yourself “I love you”.
This is a powerful phrase that will help us realize how truly phenomenal and worthy we are as human beings. It is so easy to get caught up in the media’s “perfect” image. While we are chasing their idea of beauty, we are loosing the very qualities and unique features God created specifically for us. If He wanted us to look identical, He would have made us that way. But He didn’t. Don’t insult His masterpiece by seeking to alter the way you look, think or speak, to please others or fit their version of what beauty looks like.
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