What will your answer be if someone asks you what you've done in 2019? 'Cracked a business deal'? 'Fell in love with someone'? 'Learnt a new skill'? 'lost or gained weight'? In this entire process, have you loved yourself enough this year? Yes, we are talking about #selflove, which happens to be a crucial topic we should talk about.
Let's take a moment to understand what love is? Wikipedia defines love as "an intense feeling of deep affection" and “Love is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes that range from interpersonal affection (“I love my mother”) to pleasure (“I loved that meal”). It can refer to an emotion of a strong attraction and personal attachment.” Sounds great and it is well known too.
And what is self-love?
Self-love defined as "love of self" or "regard for one's happiness or advantage" has both been conceptualized as a fundamental human necessity and as a moral flaw, akin to vanity and selfishness. It is a combination of self-acceptance, self-awareness, and respect for ourselves.
Sounds simple, isn't it?
Yet, people fail to appreciate themselves and expect others to do it for them. No one is going to love you if you don’t love yourself, so learning to love yourself is critical. Here are some tips to help you love and appreciate yourself, and more importantly, to be more confident about yourself.
Appreciate yourself:
Who doesn't love it when someone appreciates them? Why don't we appreciate ourselves before someone else does?! For who we are and what we have!! This is the practice we should adopt as early as possible. Once you realize your worth, your talents, your brilliance, you will be able to love your imperfectly perfect self and become unstoppable.
Look at the bright side:
The bright side of yourself!!! Try to find positive things about yourself. Make a list of all your positive attributes when you feel down, and you will realize your self-worth and that you deserve love and respect. Try to fill up your mind with your positives, and you will see the magic very soon.
Say 'No' to Negative thoughts:
Not everyone is trustworthy. There are times when we want to hear something from someone, but you happen to hear something that passively breaks your confidence. Let go of negative thoughts that you hear or have about yourself. Focusing only on the negatives is a bad habit which makes it impossible to love yourself. Stop manifesting those negative thoughts.
Spending the 'ME' time:
Yes, this is a crucial thing that we fail to give importance to. Before you try to be happy with someone else, you need to find happiness within yourself. One way you can accomplish this is by spending some alone time and think. Think about the things that make you feel good physically and mentally and start doing them. You have to realize that you can be happy spending time alone too.
There are other simple tips to love yourself:
- Don't be too harsh on yourself
- Forgive and stop criticizing yourself
- Do what you love
- Appreciate yourself, tell yourself you are beautiful, and you are strong
- Smile, no matter what
- Celebrate your successes no matter how small or big they are
Take action and create a beautiful life for yourself. Trust in yourself, do good work, and you will see results.
Be Confident. Be Beautiful. Be You.
