Self-love is an essential part of a successful life and should be a main priority for everyone. By loving ourselves, we allow ourselves to show more love towards others and be happier people. We learn how to be the best versions of ourselves and how to make the most of our lives. Self-love should always be a priority if we want to be truly happy with our lives.

I used to think that I ‘loved myself’ until I truly began to focus on self-love. There is a huge difference between simply being content with who you are and wholeheartedly focusing on your well-being. Self-love requires attentiveness, patience, acceptance, and understanding. But it is the most worth-while thing that anyone could ever do because of the benefits it yields.

The best part of loving yourself is that you are able to love others better. The happier you are with yourself, the more likely you are to show happiness to those around you. I have noticed that the more I accept and love myself, the more accepting I become of those around me. When you are happy with who you are as a person, it is no longer necessary to judge others or hold hatred against someone. Simply put, loving yourself allows you to live a life full of love. Which only makes sense because love stems from inside of us, which means we have to learn to love ourselves first before we can truthfully and genuinely love those who are important to us.

Another benefit of self-love is the self-awareness that comes along with it. Life can be crazy stressful sometimes, especially for young adults. It’s easy to become overwhelmed and forget to listen to the needs of our bodies saying “I’m tired” and “I need a break.” Self-love allows for complete and total self-awareness because you are focusing on the well-being of yourself. I know when to go to bed at 6pm and when to tell myself to push harder. I know when I deserve to treat myself to a massage and I know when I should take a day off from working out. Listening to our bodies and respecting our bodies’ needs are crucial to being successful in life because if we wear ourselves out and forget to nurture ourselves with love, we won’t be able to last very long with anything. Loving yourself and being aware of your needs go hand in hand and allow for us to be the best versions of ourselves.

Finally, one of my favorite parts of self-love is the growth. Loving who you are as a person can turn you into many wonderful things. When you have the confidence to be who you truly want to be, you can discover a lot about yourself. You may decide to pick up a new hobby, go eat somewhere you’ve never been, or start learning about a new subject that intrigues you. Self-love also enables independence, and being happy on your own. While it is important to have relationships whether it be family, friends, or significant others, it is also extremely important to maintain relationships with ourselves and value alone time. Alone time could be a bubble bath at the end of a long week or taking yourself to a coffee shop to read a book and grab a drink. Learning to love yourself also teaches you that it is not only okay but also important to be your own individual person.

Self-love encourages personal growth and confidence, and is honestly one of the best things I have ever decided to focus on. Loving yourself means letting yourself grow into a better person every single day, and most importantly – there is no such thing as too much love. Go ahead and fill yourself up with love, you deserve it.