Loving yourself means that you are refusing to tolerate a person’s poor manners and behavior towards you.
Just because you love yourself doesn’t necessarily mean that you are a conceited self-obsessed prick who doesn’t care about other people. It doesn’t mean that you’re a narcissistic human being who thinks that you are fully capable of facing the challenges that life has to throw your way on your own. Just because you love yourself doesn’t mean that you have this perfect mental image of yourself that is free of blemishes and imperfections. Just because you love yourself doesn’t mean that you are sculpted like a Greek deity. Just because you love yourself doesn’t mean that you aren’t aware of your own vulnerabilities and insecurities. Just because you love yourself doesn’t mean that you ignore the fact that you are a very flawed and imperfect human being. Just because you love yourself doesn’t mean that you are living a life of delusion.
When you choose to love yourself, it only means that you are merely refusing to settle for a life that you don’t deserve; a life of mediocrity. Loving yourself means that you are gracious enough to accept the compliments and words of kindness that are thrown your way. Loving yourself means that you are merely choosing to believe in yourself and in your own strengths. Loving yourself means that you are able to acknowledge the fact that you actually have something to offer this world; something that could be of value to other people. Loving yourself means being able to recognize your own potential to be a force for good in this universe and how you could really bring about a positive change in the lives of the people around you no matter how big or small that change may be.
Loving yourself means that you are refusing to tolerate a person’s poor manners and behavior towards you. It means that you are only willing to surround yourself with good company; with people who actually add value, meaning, and depth into your life. Loving yourself doesn’t mean you being antisocial at all. It means that you are being more selective with the people you trust and love. It means you being more guarded because you understand that not everyone in the world is going to have good intentions when it comes to interacting with you. Loving yourself means that you don’t blame yourself every single time a relationship or a friendship doesn’t seem to work out. It means that you are able to recognize when the fault is not your own. Loving yourself means you having the strength to actually burn bridges and cut ties with people who only add toxicity and unnecessary drama to your life.
Loving yourself means that you don’t hold yourself to such unreasonable standards anymore. It means being more understanding and patient with yourself especially when you fall short of your own expectations. Loving yourself means you being okay with failure and not letting your insecurities get the best of you. Loving yourself means being able to forgive yourself whenever you screw up; and finding the resolve to get up, dust yourself off, and move on to better things.
Loving yourself means acknowledging your worth in the world. It means recognizing what you have to offer society. Loving yourself means you recognizing just how far you have come from the person you once were, and how far you have yet to go to become the person you are destined to be. Loving yourself means being able to appreciate the good and bad times in your life’s history because you know that everything that has happened has led to you becoming who you are today.
Loving yourself merely means being able to acknowledge your own potential whenever you try your hand at a new endeavor. Loving yourself means not hating what you see when you look into a mirror. Loving yourself means that you don’t have to tolerate any negativity that you don’t really have to deal with to move on in life. Loving yourself is maintaining the belief in yourself especially when that belief isn’t coming from anyone else. Loving yourself means acknowledging your own existence in this life and validating it on your own standards.
It’s important for you to always learn to love yourself and you can’t let anyone convince you otherwise. Remember that if you refuse to love yourself, you are essentially giving other people the permission not to love you either. But if you choose to be confident about yourself, if you acknowledge all the parts about you that are difficult to love, people will follow. But most importantly, you should love yourself because your love is the only one that you can really rely on. You can’t always count on other people to be there for you, but you can always be there for yourself. Love yourself shamelessly, unconditionally, wholeheartedly.