The self-love movement is being talked about all over the place right now, but most people still find themselves struggling with this concept. We give so much love to others and we oftentimes forget to put ourselves on that list. I have come to find that the true meaning of happiness starts with love. First loving God, then loving ourselves, and then we can love others.

Understand that there is a stark difference between loving yourself and being a narcissist. I'm not telling you to become obsessed with your looks and physical appearance. The love that I'm referring to starts from within. It's being able to look in the mirror, see your flaws, and say that you will chose to love yourself despite how you may look. It's looking within yourself and finding that special something that sets your soul on fire. It's finding the thing your passionate about and making a conscious effort to do more of that. It's checking in with yourself to know that you're overworked and need to pay more attention to your health. That's the real meaning of self-love. Making sure that you are the best version of yourself in mind, body, and spirit.

So how can we begin this journey of self-love?

1. Come up with a daily ritual

Allow yourself 20 minutes per day either in the morning or before you go to bed to meditate and reflect. My daily ritual is to wake up in the morning and read my daily devotional and give myself a compliment. There is something about starting the morning off with a scripture that I can have on my mind for the rest of the day. I believe that finding your identity in Christ is the first step to loving yourself, and the only way to find your identity is to study his word. After doing this, I'll look at myself in the mirror and give myself a compliment. It's so easy for us to get caught up in what we hate about ourselves, and oftentimes we ignore the things that we do love.

2. Find your tribe

As much as we would like to think we can, we can’t do everything ourselves. You are who you surround yourself with, and it's important to have people around you who have positive energy. You should never feel like you need to compare yourselves to your friends, or that you can't be your true, authentic self. If that is the case, you definitely need to reevaluate who is surrounding you.

3. Make a “What’s Working for Me" list.

A part of self-love is to become one with yourself and understand yourself. Sometimes this means that you need to see what is working for you and what's not. Maybe you have relationships around you that aren't making you happy anymore. Maybe you are in a major that you just don't want to study anymore. Maybe you are working a job that just isn't cutting it anymore. It's important to identify some of the things that are making you unhappy so that you can come up with a plan on how to fix them.

4. Be good to your body

Sometimes being in college can cause you to live an extremely unhealthy lifestyle. From bad eating habits, to lack of sleep, to lack of exercise, we don't always treat our bodies with the respect they deserve. The goal is to be the healthiest version of yourself. I think oftentimes our generation associates being healthy with being skinny. Those are two completely different things. No one is saying that you have to be model thin! Just be mindful and intentional about what you're putting into your body, and try and exercise a few times a week.

5. Explore your spirituality.

Faith is the foundation for self-love, no matter what you believe. Believing in something bigger than yourself will up your heart to so many wonderful things. It will help you stop living as a fearful being and just start living. Instead of being bound by what was and what will be, you are allowed to focus on what is.