Remember that you were art long before he came to admire you, and you’ll continue to be art even when he’s gone. – Unknown
Self-love may be one of the most challenging concepts that I have yet to face thus far. It is very apparent in the culture and society that I am continually surrounded by that I am not the only one who struggles with this. It has been looked down on, and judged for people to love themselves for years. Practicing self-love, and loving the person you have become is never a bad thing. It is a thing most people struggle with, therefor they put others down who master this skill. Personally, I don’t think you can properly be loved and love someone else until you master self-love.
One of the things I personally struggle with is the idea of looking for love everywhere else except in the mirror. I try to find love in other people, in hobbies, in helping others, or even within guys—yet it isn’t until recently that I have realized I need to be turning to myself for the sort of love I desire. I desire a life-long, all encompassing, fulfilling love. This, my friends, is self-love. I know that this can be confusing at where to begin and what this ‘self-love’ looks like. What’s even worse is that our western culture doesn’t make this task any easier, and self-love has an association with narcissism and vanity. This is not the case. For me, self-love has consisted of leaving unhealthy friendships and/or relationships, forgiving myself for things out of my control, doing things for the sole reason of making myself happy, and not being so hard on myself. An easier way to approach this is to talk to and love yourself in the way you would talk to and love someone else that you care about, or even in a way you would want someone to love you. The way you love yourself should be no different than the love you give to others.
The more you find love in yourself, the less you will turn to others for love. As you begin to love and accept who you are, if and when other people don’t, it is not the end of the world. You need no acceptance except from yourself. As my opening quote depicts, you are art and you are beautiful even if someone can’t see that. You were beautiful before other people came into your life, and will be beautiful long after they leave.
On days when this seems hard to do, or seems nearly impossible, begin from square one. You are healthy and strong, you are breathing, you are alive, and you have the power to take your life in any direction you choose. This is reason enough to love the person you are and the person you are going to become. That being said-- forgive yourself often, talk positively to and accept yourself daily, and always love yourself first.
