What Loving Yourself Means

Loving yourself is not simply making yourself look good. More than physical, loving yourself should come from the inside. Like what H. Eker said in his best-selling book, “Your inner world reflects your outer world”.  So that means that if you think you are ugly then you’ll find yourself ugly. If you think you’re not lovable, you’ll never be a love magnet.

As a woman, I have experienced a lack of self-worth. I was a people pleaser before. I craved for attention. And because I wanted to be noticed, I compromised some of the things that were against my values and principles. It made me unhappy.

But I’ve recognized that loving yourself is more than just having a ME-time.

If you want to love yourself you should:

 

1. Prioritize Yourself

Learn to put yourself first in anything and everything that you do. You must follow what will benefit you and what will make you genuinely happy. Never allow anyone to steal your happiness. You must learn to say NO and to avoid circumstances that will just be stressful for you. Most of the time, these are the things we do for others first because we want to be liked. But unfortunately, we end up feeling insignificant. Make sure that if you’ll do something, you’ll do it because you’re happy doing it not for the sake of being liked or for drawing attention.

If we think attention is love, we end up with pleasing others. And it’s bad because we let others dictate or control us. If we love ourselves, we should listen to ourselves and prioritize ourselves first.

 

2. Accept Yourself

Accepting yourself means you know that you are BLESSED and BEAUTIFUL.  It means being able to look in the mirror and say that you are looking at God’s most wonderful creation. It means being PROUD of your skin and your size and being confident about it. It’s waking up every day thanking the Lord for all the blessings that you already have. You don’t even need a room for comparisons because you know you are God’s image.

And because you are His image, you embrace your flaws and imperfections. You choose to concentrate on your strengths regardless of your weaknesses. And you recognized that you have skills and talents different from what others have that makes you stand out.

 

3. Complete Yourself

Sometimes, we feel that other people are the answers for what’s lacking in us. That’s why we end up with the wrong person in our life or with the wrong friends.

For example, in a relationship, we think that having partners will resolve our “incompleteness,” but boyfriends and girlfriends are not there to solve your issues. No matter how many times they will tell you that you are beautiful, if you have insecurities, you’ll end up getting jealous. If he tells you that your work is good but you feel it is not good enough, you’ll end up doubting your ability and comparing your work to others simply because you don’t believe in yourself.

Your partner may always re-assure you, motivate you but it is YOU who have control in everything that you FEEL inside of you that is projected externally in the way you handle relations and converse with other people.

Remember that other people are just there to compliment you but your completeness is something you have to build on your own.

Here’s a great quote from Tony A. Gaskins Jr.:

Two incomplete people cannot complete one another. You’ll deplete one another instead. Complete yourself, then complement someone else.

 

 

4. Let go of the Past

You cannot fix others’ lives if you have your own issues unresolved. So forgive yourself for all that was, make friends with your past and be happy that you learned something. Don’t let the past threaten the present moment. People who truly love you will still choose to love you regardless of your past mistakes. Just concentrate on what you can do now and build a better version of yourself every day!

 

5. Be Yourself

Loving yourself also means that you are not afraid to express yourself.

You know that being yourself is the best way for people to love you because you’re giving them what they should see and who you really are – a great and genuine person!

 

6. Respect Yourself

Do not allow anyone to abuse you or treat you badly. Respecting yourself means that you know your worth. You know how to let go and walk out from people or situations that will just drain what’s good inside you. You deserve the kind of treatment you think you deserve. So always remember to stay away from negativity and abusive people. Love yourself enough to close doors and let go

 

7.  Be Fit

Loving yourself means taking good care of your self. Exercise. Eat healthy food. Drink plenty of water. Have enough sleep. Health is wealth. You don’t want to be with someone who can’t take care of themselves right?

 

More importantly,

If you want to be loved, love yourself first. Instead of thinking about how you will love someone, ask yourself on how to love yourself first. You cannot give what you do not have, remember that.

Loving yourself is BELIEVING in yourself. It means that you know that you are a great person, you are incomparable, and you are God’s beloved. And because God is the one who created you, you know that you are BEAUTIFUL. You know that you are WORTH dying beyond your sins, beyond your mistakes, beyond your imperfections.

If Jesus, loved you enough to die for your cross, why would you second-doubt yourself? You are LOVABLE. You just need to own it and feel it for yourself.

Embrace your life, be positive about it, accept your flaws and go out confident believing that you are unique, you are worth it, you are God’s masterpiece and you are WHOLE.

Nobody is perfect. Just Enjoy life. Do what you need to do. Let go and Choose to love yourself now!

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