Is Self-Love Selfish?
Do you really love yourself or do you think you do like I did for years?
What does self-love really mean? Is it an ego boosting practice?
For years, I was struggling to differentiate between thinking about myself and loving myself.
I was mistakenly thinking for years that being occupied with my self thoughts were equivalent to loving myself!
I was thinking giving importance to my beliefs and my choices was an egoistic practice which would make me look selfish and careless to the eyes of other people.
I was thinking loving myself was a lack of awareness and narrow thinking.
About 10 years ago, I came across Louise Hay and her amazing Hay House Center when I attended a couple of self-development conferences.
I should tell you though when the first time, this beautiful older lady came on stage and talked about her famous Mirror Practice, I didn't like what I heard. I thought looking at myself in the mirror everyday and talking to and praising myself would look so silly and out of character!
Then, I tried to do the practice once or twice, and of course, it looked really funny.
As you I am sure experienced it yourself, when something comes to our awareness, we start attracting similar type of things into our life and keep noticing more of the same. I came across more and more articles and videos on the power of self-love.
Little by little, I become more attuned to the idea of self-love. I realized how this practice could help those who are suffering from self-esteem issues.
I realized how important it was for children to accept and love themselves so they could stand peer pressure or bullying at school.
I realized not loving self could translate into depression, suicide, anxiety, in staying in abusive relationships, and a whole other forms of societal malfunctions.
It took me a long time to really practice self-love but once I started to do it, I felt a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt free, more confident, more independent, happier...
It really took a very long time for me to realize loving and accepting what God has gifted me is in fact the beauty of my existence.
My originality lies in my authentic self and that is what makes me unique and one of a kind in this world.
When we accept ourselves with the whole package of so-called "flaws" and "imperfections", we are in fact telling ourselves: "You are enough."
When we allow ourselves to make mistakes and not to be embarrassed or scared, we are encouraging ourselves to try new things and to dare to experiment with life.
When we need to take it easy when everyone else is hustling and bustling, we are respecting our body and our mind to slow down and to recharge.
This acceptance should not be out of necessity but a natural and easy process that empowers and comforts. This process could eventually become an automatic response in the subconscious mind when we practice proactive self-love frequently. Our subconscious or guerrilla brain starts to believe that we are great the way we are!
But how can we do it? I guess we need to start by asking ourselves some honest questions. We need to find out what and who defines our worth and who should determine our happiness in this world, if not ourselves?
Do we need to act and react our entire lives accordingly to make others happy because we feel that is how they want us to be and act?
I think we need to make our priorities straight by determining once and for all, WHO NEEDS TO BE HAPPY in OUR life more than anyone else?
So, Let's all look into that mirror with love and care and know that the person looking back at us is the most valuable, the most precious person we will ever have in our life.
That person who will make or break it for us! The person that can lead us to the depth of misery or to the ladder of success.
Let's teach our sons and daughters to respect and love themselves by staying authentic and loyal to themselves; by accepting their mistakes and their victories; by allowing themselves to be foolish and vulnerable. We can be the best role models when they see us practicing self love. Self-esteem and self-confidence originate from self love they are the foundation of happiness and we can gift them to our children.
When we practice self-love, we love and respect other people more. We will be comfortable around those who are confident and practice self-care.
As John Maxwell said in his Law of Mirror, "We need to value ourselves to add value to ourselves and to others."
You are amazing and wonderful just the way you are!
Please don't ever forget that.
What does self-love really mean? Is it an ego boosting practice?
For years, I was struggling to differentiate between thinking about myself and loving myself.
I was mistakenly thinking for years that being occupied with my self thoughts were equivalent to loving myself!
I was thinking giving importance to my beliefs and my choices was an egoistic practice which would make me look selfish and careless to the eyes of other people.
I was thinking loving myself was a lack of awareness and narrow thinking.
About 10 years ago, I came across Louise Hay and her amazing Hay House Center when I attended a couple of self-development conferences.
I should tell you though when the first time, this beautiful older lady came on stage and talked about her famous Mirror Practice, I didn't like what I heard. I thought looking at myself in the mirror everyday and talking to and praising myself would look so silly and out of character!
Then, I tried to do the practice once or twice, and of course, it looked really funny.
As you I am sure experienced it yourself, when something comes to our awareness, we start attracting similar type of things into our life and keep noticing more of the same. I came across more and more articles and videos on the power of self-love.
Little by little, I become more attuned to the idea of self-love. I realized how this practice could help those who are suffering from self-esteem issues.
I realized how important it was for children to accept and love themselves so they could stand peer pressure or bullying at school.
I realized not loving self could translate into depression, suicide, anxiety, in staying in abusive relationships, and a whole other forms of societal malfunctions.
It took me a long time to really practice self-love but once I started to do it, I felt a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders. I felt free, more confident, more independent, happier...
It really took a very long time for me to realize loving and accepting what God has gifted me is in fact the beauty of my existence.
My originality lies in my authentic self and that is what makes me unique and one of a kind in this world.
When we accept ourselves with the whole package of so-called "flaws" and "imperfections", we are in fact telling ourselves: "You are enough."
When we allow ourselves to make mistakes and not to be embarrassed or scared, we are encouraging ourselves to try new things and to dare to experiment with life.
When we need to take it easy when everyone else is hustling and bustling, we are respecting our body and our mind to slow down and to recharge.
This acceptance should not be out of necessity but a natural and easy process that empowers and comforts. This process could eventually become an automatic response in the subconscious mind when we practice proactive self-love frequently. Our subconscious or guerrilla brain starts to believe that we are great the way we are!
But how can we do it? I guess we need to start by asking ourselves some honest questions. We need to find out what and who defines our worth and who should determine our happiness in this world, if not ourselves?
Do we need to act and react our entire lives accordingly to make others happy because we feel that is how they want us to be and act?
I think we need to make our priorities straight by determining once and for all, WHO NEEDS TO BE HAPPY in OUR life more than anyone else?
So, Let's all look into that mirror with love and care and know that the person looking back at us is the most valuable, the most precious person we will ever have in our life.
That person who will make or break it for us! The person that can lead us to the depth of misery or to the ladder of success.
Let's teach our sons and daughters to respect and love themselves by staying authentic and loyal to themselves; by accepting their mistakes and their victories; by allowing themselves to be foolish and vulnerable. We can be the best role models when they see us practicing self love. Self-esteem and self-confidence originate from self love they are the foundation of happiness and we can gift them to our children.
When we practice self-love, we love and respect other people more. We will be comfortable around those who are confident and practice self-care.
As John Maxwell said in his Law of Mirror, "We need to value ourselves to add value to ourselves and to others."
You are amazing and wonderful just the way you are!
Please don't ever forget that.