I've always been the kind of girl to drop very important opportunities in my life just to make someone else happy. Your boyfriend broke up with you last night? Don't worry, I'll call off work. Do You want to go out for your 21st birthday? Of course, I'll go with you and skip class tomorrow. I have also been the girl who feels she is not good enough and could never be loved. I need to stop being this girl. That is because I finally realized it was wrong to put aside important events in my life just to see happiness in others. I realized living a life sad and miserable is not living. I realized this when I did all these things for other people, but then they couldn't support me. I realized this when college graduation was only a year away. I also realized this when I thought about how short life can be. I need to begin to love myself and respect myself. I'm not being selfish here, but how can you love other people so much if you don't love yourself first?
I know you're all thinking that Justin Bieber said it first, but maybe he's right. "You should go and love yourself." This is so important. There is nothing selfish and narcissistic about it. You see, love is all about giving and receiving. I have just been giving and not receiving. Yeah, this might sound selfish too, but it's not. Love starts with "me." It sounds cheesy, but it's true. I am the one responsible for my life. I make my own choices, I choose my own destiny and yes, I will make mistakes. I need to remember that my mistakes do not define me. After considering all of this, I have finally realized why I am so important.
I was not put on this planet to sit around and do nothing. I am here for a reason. I am not here to go to school, pay bills and die. I have dreams, aspirations, and goals, and I want to live my life to the fullest rather than just saying I did. After getting inspired, I came up with a few ways you need to love yourself. Here are my favorite two.
The first is when you love who you are, you accept who you are. Loving yourself does not mean you need to stop improving yourself. Embrace your strengths and weaknesses. This is so important, because when you accept yourself, you will stop comparing yourself to others, and that is huge.
My second favorite is when you love yourself, the world changes around you. Don't be scared to fall in love with as many things as you can. It does not mean you are weak. When we fall in love with everything around us it makes the world more exciting. Don't be afraid of heartbreak, because it is simply a part of life that we all as humans experience.
With those two being the most important, I have plenty other reasons why you need to love yourself. Another reason is that when you love yourself, it gives you more confidence. People come to confident people for advice and really look up to them. This might just be me, but I feel great about myself when people feel like they can confide in me. Not only can people come to you, but you can confide in yourself. Loving yourself gives you the confidence to move forward in your life. The last reason is you will avoid self-reproach. When you don't love yourself you beat yourself up, bring yourself down and begin to express emotions of sorrow and depression. When you avoid self-reproach, those anxious feeling go away and you can see your true potential. You just need to remember everything you want is on the other side of fear. Always remember what you think of yourself is much more important than what others will ever think of you.
Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for other relationships you have. Think about that next time you are putting your dreams aside for someone else (not that this person isn't worth it, but remember you are worth it). Once you find yourself, love who you have become. Be obsessed with what you love. If you aren't obsessed with who you are and what you do, change it and keep searching until you find it. Stay away from people who make you feel like you are hard to love. Be gentle with yourself, because you are doing the best you can.
