Love is universally defined as a strong feeling of affection.

Some of us love easily, and for others, it takes a little bit more effort to love.

Love, it can have so many different definitions to different people. Although, it is important to love one another, one of the most important forms of love is self-love and acceptance. Today, so many are trying to change their image for all the wrong reasons, too many people out there are trying to please other people. But why is it that so many people are so easy to want to please other people, rather than to bring happiness upon themselves?

To love, you must start within yourself. Ignore the world around you. Ignore those whom love to make others miserable, although this is a cliched saying, but "misery loves company" and if you are there listening to what others have to say and complain about, all it will do is bring you down with them. It is much better to learn to ignore the negativity in this world than try to be a part of it. If many of us would ignore the negativity, then maybe there would be more positive outcomes.

Let's be honest, we all need positivity, but to convey that positivity in our lives, we must be open to it. Being positive creates an amazing atmosphere.

From my experience of knowing people who have trouble with self-love, they focused too much on what was bad. Including myself, I have had my share of self-love issues: Personally, I focused too much on the things that didn't matter. I focused too much on my flaws, on the things that didn't matter, I cared too much about what other people thought. I got caught up in things that didn't necessarily mattered. In all of this, I became lost, the self-love I did have was lost and nowhere to be found. It lead me to become seriously depressed and just unhappy in general.

But all of this is OK, there are times where one may experience this, it's only natural to have these feelings. But one day I woke up and realized, I was not going to be a victim anymore. I began to love myself more. I learned to love the scars on my body, the weird quirks I do on a daily basis. I had an amazing support system, my friends, especially. I hid this from my family, maybe because I was ashamed of it, or maybe it was because I was too embarrassed to admit I didn't feel pretty enough or good enough in general. My friends, by far, are the ones I have to thank. Out of all, they would tell me how much they loved and cared for me and if I ever needed them for anything they would be there to give me a helping hand.

I learned how to love my flaws, I learned how to ignore the negative in life. I learned that it is OK to not be perfect, because essentially no one is. It is OK to love yourself, it doesn't necessarily mean that you are conceited, it only means that you see the good in yourself and don't care about what others think.