Before you love anyone else, be it your mother, friends, family or person your in a romantic relationship with, you must love yourself.
There is an irony in life that ceases to amaze me. We love others. We adore Influencers , celebrities, musicians, models. We look up to those who are in a higher sociable status than us. We gleefully observe those who seemingly have it all. The recognition and praise that others wish for. We love those who take care of us, those who keep us emotionally intact. But we don’t ever reflect on what love constitutes and how it must first start with ourselves.
Instead we bottle up our insecurities, eat ourselves away, tell ourselves all sought of things that scream pessimism. We tarnish our self esteem and kill our sense of belonging. We strive to meet up with the exaggerated expectations and self-proclaimed standards of today’s world. All to come to terms with the same unwavering disappointment. That we are not good enough. That we aren’t beautiful enough. There we aren’t academically sound or intelligent. That we lack talent, ambition and dreams that are far beyond attainable and in our reach.
The breaking reality is, is that we’ve streamed so far off into the unrealism of what we’re “expected” to be. With peer pressure on the rise, becoming a moving tyrant , turning our youths astray and making them prone to bad influence, habits and the likes it’s no surprise to say that our generation has been off to a bad start.
You need to love yourself. This isn’t some cliche anecdote on the negative side of not being an optimist or a rant-dump telling you why you need to feel good about yourself. It’s a progressive truth that isn’t typically revealed given today’s social atmosphere. Loving yourself isn’t for the sake of yourself per say. It holds the weight of your own self-worth, life perspective and overall judgement. If you do t love yourself you’ll find it hard to love someone who truly cares about you. You won’t believe what they say because if your insecurities. You won’t trust a word from the closest of friends because of your self doubt. You won’t see the world as it is as because your self- hatred and loathing. It’s a lot more to do with how it affects your external environment than your internal environment.
Be kind to yourself and know your worth. Love starts from within.