On Loving Yourself

I’m truly beginning to understand self-love and the great things it has opened up in my life. I was once a person who allowed all the painful hurtful things I’d lived through to blind me from the good people and things life still had waiting for me. Every day, I am still a work in progress.  

I distrusted most people and could not foresee anything joyful happening in the future. All I got was more of the same. I distrusted people and life because I didn’t trust that I was worthy of being happy or loved. I was self-assured in the fact that everyone would let me down and so I let myself down and existed in fear of dreaming of something better, of a life with limitless possibilities. Life held nothing exciting and it was as empty as I had made it out to be. 

The truth is everyone will let you down. By virtue of being human, we are all infallible and will always fail at one time or another, even at the expense of a loved one’s feelings. It is absurd to believe otherwise, and you will continue to be disappointed. What matters is how we respond to being imperfect and failing.

If you can give yourself enough grace to forgive yourself, you are able to forgive others and accept them in their imperfection. If you can see yourself with compassion and try to make things right once you’ve gone off track, then you can treat those who have unintentionally hurt you with the same compassion and open your eyes to the fact that while we’re all living life for the first time, our paths are all different.

The way people treat us is a projection of their own bad experiences and insecurities; some deeper than you could ever understand. None of this should be taken as a reflection of your self-worth, but of the path, they are currently walking. You will recognize those you should hold on to by the way they make it up to you when they fail you and the way they forgive you when you fall short. 

The people that truly love you don’t need you to pretty, smart, rich or even talented to see the person inside you worthy of their love. Hold on to them tight because they are your guides in life, sent to sit with you on your darkest days and your most unlovable moments. Good things and people can only exist in your life when you are open to them. 

Will you meet bad people, and will bad things happen? Of course. What will get you through is the good people you’ve collected and given back to. What will get you through is the understanding that these things will pass and you will be that much stronger once you’ve made it through, your sword sharper than before. 

This will all start with loving yourself not when you look pretty or are feeling your best, but when you’re at your worst and hanging on by a string. On those days, you are just as worthy of forgiveness and love as any other day. My life today is nowhere near a success or close to perfect but  I am happy. I believe that I was created limitless and every day I am excited for what's to come. 

Love yourself, that is where you will find God.