Here's the thing: it's a new year (2017, omg), Trump will become our president in the next month and the speed of life gets faster and faster as our material culture grows every day. Although there were countless reasons before, there are even more now than ever to truly, one hundred percent, from the heart love yourself.
1. Media, like magazines, Instagram and reality TV, don't want you to love yourself and in doing so you are therefore being rebellious. How thrilling!
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Our society, sadly, profits from our insecurities. So, until we finally choose to stop listening to those inundating messages trying to fill us with shame and guilt, we are prey to the ever present dispatch of "thinner, shinier, prettier, smoother". When you authentically love yourself, it's like you're accepting the challenge to break away from the status quo. Stop being told what to do. Start your own personal revolution. Be a badass. Love thyself and the rest shall follow.
2. You can treat yo' self to bubble baths, movies, tea and chocolate.
...so get to loving yourself RIGHT THIS INSTANT. Duh.
When you take time to focus on you, you'll be amazed at how much you learn. Maybe you were more upset about that Physics grade than you thought, or you are worked up about transitioning into a new part of your life but you were too busy and too aloof to notice. Tune into your inner self. Hear what those little voices are saying, and listen. Listen, learn, love. Easy. Don't be afraid to eat a little chocolate (or a lot, I don't judge), run a bath filled with extra bubbles and put on some retro John Mayer. When you are in balance, your life will be too.
3. We're all basically specks of dust floating in space, so what are you waiting for?
Get a new perspective. Do a headstand, read the news or think about the universe. Whatever you believe, there's no denying that we are all just here on Earth chillin', made possible by some unknown force. Like seriously stop and think for a second. What is holding us together? How do the planets know not to fly off into nothingness, instead orbit perfectly around a flaming ball of fire? Where does it all end? How does one even begin to comprehend blackness and all that is outer space? One of my most favorite quotes of all time is by the local philanthrope/cosmologist, Carl Sagan. I hang this poster in my bedroom to give me perspective each morning. So the next time you're freaking out or hating on yourself, just think of the tiny dot that we are, suspended in darkness and get up and do that thing you've always been meaning to do. Better yet, cherish yourself, because you're pretty amazing.
4. You're reading this at a computer...
We live in this amazing time and place where technology exists and we are filled with fortune (even if you don't know it yet). It's a beautiful world and you're a part of it, so by default you're beautiful, too. Make it a habit to fill yourself with gratitude daily and I can guarantee you'll start to love and invest in yourself more fully.
5. You've made it this far.
However old you are, you've survived life for that long. Good job. I commend you because sometimes it's hard, and yet you always rise above and make it through. Give yourself a break and think about all that you've accomplished, not all that you haven't completed.
Even though Justin Bieber says that loving yourself is a bad thing, don't listen. You need a little more love in your life and the first place to look is within.
