Love Me? I Don’t Even Know Me
It is February, and the word love is everywhere. If you believe social media, everyone is fanatically happy with their spouse, partner, or pet. Why then is there divorce, Tinder, counseling waitlists, and loneliness?
Could it be that to give love and receive love, we first need to love ourselves? Most people who talk to me about love admit that they don’t know how to love themselves. They confess that they have done “bad things”, failed at relationships, and don’t know what they have to offer another person. Queen Latifah said, “When I was around 18, I looked in the mirror and said, ‘you’re either going to love yourself or hate yourself.’ And I decided to love myself. That changed a lot of things.”
The Queen speaks the truth. Learning to love yourself is a choice, and it changes a lot of things. Are you ready to learn to love yourself? If you are, embrace that you are worthy of love no matter what your past, and keep reading…
Learning to love self means that we first get to know the person inside those bones. Let’s start with some simple get to know me questions. It will help immensely if you right down the answers.
- What time to you wake up naturally, and what helps you continue the energy?
- What time do you naturally get tired, and what things help you relax?
- What activities, tastes, and people help you feel contentment and joy?
Learning to love self also means that we take informed action. Use the answers to the questions above to help you with the next 3 action steps.
- Connect spiritually with who you are by meditating, walking in nature, or reading your Holy book.
- Practice caring for your body by sticking to a sleep/wake schedule, eating proper nutrition, and moving – yoga, Zumba, biking etc.
- Make time for fun, and practice fun weekly.
Loving yourself takes practice, but when you get good at it, loving something or someone else will be much easier and enjoyable. You will learn to recognize others who also practice loving themselves. (They make the best partners.) You will see the patterns between taking care of yourself and nurturing another soul. Beware; however, skipping the loving yourself part may be detrimental to your health.