Self-love is critical for happiness in your life. You can say it is an act where you have first to provide care and compassion for yourself. No self-love doesn’t mean going to fancy spas or taking a hot shower. It is way more than all of this. Self-love is all about having higher regard for your own well-being in a more profound sense. It includes trusting yourself, asserting boundaries, and an overall deeper connection that helps you connect with others. It is also about talking and listening to yourself, and prioritizing yourself whenever you feel there is a need to do so.
When you think about self-love, you probably have an image in the back of your mind like reading self-help books or hugging a tree; but it is way more than that. A lot of research has shown that self-love is the key to healthy mental well-being. The consequences of not loving yourself will affect your happiness. It’s connected to how you take care of yourself and your capacity to see things from a new perspective. You are most likely to go through stress, anxiety, and react harshly even to the littlest of things when you put yourself last or fail to love yourself.
Keep Yourself Free From Comparisons
Comparison is the thief of joy and you’ll be setting up for failure if you compare yourself to anyone other than yourself. Your only competition should be yourself and how you can improve from the past. If you see someone else who is seemingly doing better than you, don’t worry about them. Remember the saying, the grass is greener on the other side. You don’t know what they’re going through behind doors. Instead, contemplate on your own life and how there are others who have less than you do at the present time, and most importantly reflect on what you do have and if there’s anything miss work on how you can achieve it.
Live A Life That Meets Your Values
You are genuinely not practicing self-love if you’re not living up to your core values. When you lack self-love, your values may not be aligned in the life you are living, and when this happens, you might feel it challenging when it comes to interacting with others and being present. It can alter your attitude and how you treat others. You may not notice the change but others will and you’ll put those relationships in jeopardy. So the most important thing you can do is maintain your core values and recognize when you slip and work on fixing things to get back on track.
Trust Yourself
It is quite normal to struggle with COVID19, social distance learning, trying to work from home, and running a household. While all of our circumstances differ in various ways one thing we can all agree on is, it’s okay to not be okay and that this is not going to last forever. Be strong and have patience. Trust yourself and your ability to adapt to changes and work through challenges.
Learn To Listen To Yourself
When it comes to listening to yourself, you have to pay attention to how you internally talk to yourself through which you can cultivate an intimate feeling of self-love. When you speak to yourself, then you must do the same with love and kindness instead of being angry and selfish. Don’t bully yourself. You can say you are cultivating goodwill towards yourself. You can instantly change your perspective of the world if you love yourself. Additionally, you can also pick up some good habits and love your mind, body, and soul.
Rest Your Body
Everyone needs rest and you need to recognize when your body is in need of it. From time to time take time for yourself. You can do this in any number of ways like logging off social media, not working after certain hours or on the weekends, or even taking a mini-vacation to a local hotel. The point is to put yourself first by putting your needs above everything and everyone else. Yes, you love your family and friends but this isn’t about them. This is about recharging yourself so that you can take care of yourself and those who depend on you.
Forgive Yourself
The best part about self-love is realizing that we are only humans, and it is okay to make mistakes and learn from them. No one is perfect so there is no reason to be so hard on yourself if you make a mistake. It’s a part of life so expect them. But the most important thing about mistakes is forgiving yourself. Stand in the mirror, look yourself in the eye, and say, “I forgive you”. It’s important to release that pain from your body so that the guilt and pain prevents you from living a happier and loving life.
In the end, the key to happiness is self-love, and if you are happy with who and what you are, then you’ll make yourself happy as well as those around you. In what ways do you show yourself self-love? Share with me in the comments below.
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