Self-love was always something I struggled with personally growing up. I was the type that was never confident in myself and always felt the need to get validation from others. For me, self love seemed like such a narcissistic thing. I thought self-love meant caring for nobody but yourself. For me it meant being cocky and thinking you are better than everyone. Soon I realized I was wrong and I needed to change my perspective.
After going to college and having my fair share of toxic relationship with people and my own personal struggle with anxiety, I finally learned the importance of self-love. Sometimes it is okay to put yourself first and take care of you before anyone else. Going through certain hardships by myself and not having a support system, I learned how crucial it was to take care of myself through tough times. It made me realize that if I wasn't going to love myself than who was. You have to accept and love yourself first, before you can expect it from others.
Loving yourself doesn't mean you are selfish and self-absorbed, It just means you value who you are as a person. It means you are learning more about yourself and discovering the characteristics that make you unique. Self-love isn't about thinking you are better than others, but rather it is what you can do to better yourself. With this change in mindset, I stopped seeking validation from others and started doing what made me happy. By caring more for myself I naturally became more confident and stopped worrying about what others were thinking. All that mattered was how I saw myself as a person at the end of the day.
There is nothing wrong with loving yourself and it definitely doesn't make you narcissistic. Self-love is crucial and it's something a lot of us need to practice and appreciate. So the next time you feel stressed or sad, take that time to focus on yourself and do things that make you happy. Who knows maybe you will learn something new about yourself through the process.
