Everyone has heard it and everyone has tried it but how do we actually go about truly loving ourselves? We can be our worst enemies but we can be our biggest supporters if we just learn to embrace the flaws. We want so badly for someone to come along and heal our hearts but how can someone else love you if you can't even love yourself? Let's break it down into 3 simple steps:
Step 1: God Made You
We're starting off strong with step #1. The most important of all the rest by far and if none of the others speak to you then I hope this one does. God created the heavens, he created the skies, he made night from day and darkness from lightness. God created nature, he created animals, he designed the moon and the stars. God also created YOU. How can you look at a sunset and think about how beautiful it is, then look at yourself and not think you are enough? It's almost hypocritical in a way. God made you the way you are for a reason. All of the things that make you believe you aren't enough are the exact things that God added to make you enough in his eyes and what better person to make proud than our creator? You're absolutely perfect just the way you are and life is too short to try and be anyone else, so embrace those flaws and let someone else love you for every single one of them.
Step 2: Recreate
If you aren't happy with the way things are going then you're the only one who can change that. Stop whatever you're doing that doesn't make you happy and find something that does. You will never begin to love yourself if you aren't finding happiness in your life. I can't stress enough how important it is to do what's best for you and let everything else fall into place. Take your time and find yourself. Everyone has clocks ticking at different times and your clock is right where it needs to be. Don't like your job? Go back to school and become what you want to be. Don't like how you look in an outfit? Hit the gym and work off some stress. Don't like your relationships? Improve them for the better or let go of the past and move on. This world is full of opportunities to become whatever you want to be and whoever you want to be, so make the best of them but be yourself and do what makes YOU happy while doing so.
Step 3: Never Blame Yourself
One of the main reasons it's so hard to love yourself is because you've had someone around who wasted your time and blamed you when things went wrong. We get so caught up in others lives and getting attached to those around us that we forget our true identities. It's easy to get caught up in a relationship or a friendship that manipulates you into being the person that they want you to be. If they don't love the real you then why waste your time? I can promise you that someone out there will love exactly who you are and won't change a thing so don't waste your energy on the people who don't. Those around you are most likely still trying to find themselves too so move on and if they come back later on when you've learned to love yourself then they were meant to be in your life. If they don't come back then it was for the better. Never let someone blame you for putting your happiness and your future first. If they blame you then odds are they don't even know themselves yet and just don't appreciate the true value of anyone else either.
Overall, just be you. The amazing, awesome, beautiful, smart, kind, important YOU. Be who God created you to be and you'll never need to ask for anything else. Once you love yourself, you'll never feel alone and your future relationships will thank you for it too. If you know how to love, you'll never run out & don't worry, when you least expect it, someone else will come along and love the real you too.
