Loving who you are seems simple, doesn’t it? I mean, you live with yourself every second of every day and you know the ins and outs of who you are. But, in reality, we are the hardest on ourselves. We judge ourselves more critically than any other person because we know ourselves the best and we tend to expect absolute “perfection."
Perfection tends to drive us into the ground when we start to believe that we aren’t good enough, pretty enough, talented enough, involved enough, or successful enough, because it really is impossible to be “perfect.” But recently, I have been realizing that dropping the idea of perfection and accepting the idea of imperfection has allowed me to regain the power I need to love who I am. Every piece of who I am can be broken, messy, jumbled, and frazzled, but that doesn't mean that I don’t deserve to be loved and to love myself. And that goes for each and every single one of you.
Love your body. Girls, I know this area of love is especially hard. Society has created standards where every different body type is somehow supposed to be a size zero with perfect skin, hair, facial features, and curves. This “perfect” body is unattainable for almost every single one of us. So why do we spend so much time staring at ourselves and cursing different parts of our bodies for their imperfections. I have been learning, slowly but surely, that I am beautiful the way I am. And spending less time hating my body allows me to put much more time into my life.
Love your ideas. We all are created with a different view of the world, and our ideas are shifted by our life experiences, interests, and the way we have grown up. These ideas can contrast with those of other people but that doesn’t make them wrong. Instead of hiding the thoughts and views you have from the world in fear of judgement, proclaim them, discuss them, and cherish them because they make you who you are.
Love your mistakes. Regrets and shame can drag you down and begin to make you believe that you don’t deserve to be loved or to love who you are. That is unbelievably false. We all have made mistakes that we are not proud of. Anyone who tells you differently is lying. Instead of sitting in regret and hiding our pain, we can learn to love ourselves and grow through these things. We all have broken pieces but that doesn’t make us broken.
Love your beliefs. Your values and beliefs make up your core. Without them, you can begin to feel shallow and empty. Always listen to your gut and follow what feels right to your heart. You do not need everyone to love you in order to love yourself for what you believe in.
So yes, this seems like a very cut-and-dry solution to one of the hardest challenges that we all face every day. What I am trying to say is that you deserve all of these things. You deserve to love who you are, how you look, what you believe in, and what you do. You deserve to treasure yourself for all of your accomplishments and all of your mistakes. Yes, this won’t happen overnight, but you have the power to love yourself. Why don’t you begin to seize it?
