My sister always reminded me that it was incredibly important to love yourself first. She said, “If you want someone to love you so much that it's driving them insane, you must love yourself to that extreme too.”
An important part of loving yourself is accepting yourself and the weird quirks, flaws, mistakes and baggage you may carry. Loving yourself and being genuinely happy go hand in hand; in order to be sincerely happy, you must accept and love yourself. Everyone deserves to be able to look in the mirror and say, "Damn, look at you."
Here are some steps to help love yourself more:
1. Look in the mirror at least three times a day.
Really look. Stare at your laugh lines and think back to the times when you laughed so hard, you legit thought you were going to pee your pants. Look into your own eyes and repeat: "You are beautiful." It may be strange at first, but you have to remember, no one is going to love you more than you love yourself.
2. Wear things that make you feel pretty.
Wear things that personally make you feel pretty. It might be a new floral dress or some kickass ripped skinny jeans. It doesn't matter. What matters is how you feel in it, and the confidence you have while wearing it. It can be something as simple as a new scarf or a pair of shoes. You strut them, girl.
3. Engage yourself in activities you enjoy doing.
Go on a run, join a knitting club. It doesn't matter. The endorphins you will receive from the satisfaction of doing something you love will automatically make you so much happier. By participating in things that you enjoy doing, you will also surround yourself around a good group of people who enjoy the same things.
4. Compliment others!
Do it in an honest way. Don't just go off complimenting other people in order to get a compliment back, but genuinely do it to make someone's day. The satisfaction of knowing you made someone smile will make you feel better yourself.
5. Treat yo' self.
As the characters of "Parks and Recreation" say, "Treat yo' self!" Buy yourself flowers! Don't wait around for the perfect person to come and buy you flowers, realize that you are your own perfect person. Flowers can bring such joy to a room and will always brighten up your day. Get your nails done, buy the venti frap instead of the grande, do and buy what makes you happy. Treating yourself can even be turning off all electronics for a couple hours and losing yourself in a great book, maybe even taking a nap.
6. Be a little selfish.
Realize that sometimes you have to put your own feelings and happiness before others. It may make you feel selfish and mean, but in the end you're the one that's left to take care of yourself when other people/things leave. Think about yourself first but also about how your choices and actions may affect other people.
7. Spend some time alone.
We often surround ourselves with people in order to feel some sort of joy and not lonely; however, a big step in learning to love yourself is accepting the fact that sometimes you are going to be alone. And you have to be okay with that. Go on a hike by yourself, let the thousand and one thoughts pour into your brain, and take in all the silence. It's healthy for you.
But most importantly, remember to be your biggest hero. Be happy, be joyful, be the big girl your 3-year-old self looked up to. Make that little 3-year-old happy.
Love yourself above all things.
