In a world full of clichés there is none more true or important than the one dictating that we must first love ourselves before we can truly love someone else. This is also extended to we must first love ourselves before we are able to truly accept love from others.
Selfishness is generally a horrible character trait. Yet, when it comes to love, it MUST all start with self love. I am not talking narcissistic delusion, but a healthy realization that a healthy and genuine love for oneself is the necessary catalyst for experiencing true love and healthy relationships with others.
No one can make us happy. They can make us unhappy (if we allow it), but no one has the ability to actually make you happy. That all starts and stops within ourselves. People can add to and accentuate our happiness, but if we are lacking the elements of love and happiness within ourselves, nothing anyone else can do will ever change that. It really all must come from within.
We can look for others for the tools and guidance to get us where we need to be…in helping to understand that the capacity to love starts first and foremost with our abilities to genuine love ourselves.
I know I make it sound so simple, but the reality is that this is one of the few truisms in life that really is that simple. So come if it so simple, everyone does not subscribe to understanding the necessity of genuinely loving themselves.
I do not believe that love is an innate quality. Even if to an extent it is, it is still heavily reliant on being a taught and learned behavior, and clearly many of us were just never taught how to love properly; starting with ourselves. Our early lives heavily influence how we see ourselves into adulthood. If we were not shown love as well as taught how to love, we must learn the lessons elsewhere.
The first lesson is understanding our worthiness. Until one is able to recognize their worth, there can be no expectation in having others place the proper value on it. It all starts with you. Recognize and understand your worth. Once that is done love yourself…genuinely, truly, deeply, warts and all. We all have room for improvement, but once you have attained self-love, the possibilities of sharing and receiving love from others become monumental.
#loveyourself, #love, #selflove, #priorities, #possibilities, #inspirational
