“Self-Love is an Ongoing Journey”
Self-love is all I’ve been thinking, reading and listening about in the past couple weeks because I am on that journey. About a month ago, I started realizing how horribly I treat myself. The way I talk to myself, view myself and treat myself. It’s not something that I do intentionally. In the world we live in today it is so easy to forget about ourselves. Between work, school and relationships we forget to take care of ourselves. I’ve learned that self love isn’t something you can finish at the end of a semester like a class. Love is always evolving just like we are, it is ongoing. Here are some truths about self-love that we should all remember at all times.
- This journey is more like a winding road than a straight road
During this journey there are going to be a lot of highs and lows and that is absolutely normal. This is a life long journey where you will never stop learning. Even when you think you have learned it all there will always be something new that you did not know about. To love yourself is to know yourself and we are always changing so we are always having to learn to love ourselves. This journey is a marathon not a sprint. During a marathon you have to pace yourself to last the whole journey and that applies in this self- love journey.
2. It is one thing to understand and it is another to apply
When you start on this self-love journey you hear a lot of advice as to what you should be doing to better yourself. I have been listening to a podcast called “The Self-Love Fix” and the young woman that hosts this podcast gives a lot of advice on self- love. I can listen to all 92 episodes that she has posted and understand them but if I do not apply them to my life then nothing is happening. I need to take these concepts and apply them to my life so I can believe them. And yes, there will be days that we will call ourselves stupid or ugly but we have to then get up, look at ourselves in the mirror and call ourselves smart and beautiful because what we say to ourselves matters.
3. The lows require consistant self forgiveness
During the lows of this journey you might find this that you detest about yourself but you need to learn to love yourself just as much as you do during your highs. Self love is about loving yourself entirely, that includes both at your best and at your worst. It is easy to love yourself when things are good and easy but the real work comes when things aren’t good. During these lows is when you learn to love yourself to except and work on those areas that you don’t love about yourself. And keep in mind that you are human and you are not perfect but you are enough.
4 . This journey is lonely and frustrating
During this journey you are choosing to love yourself and that means loving both the good and the bad. In a relationship you decide to take both the good and the bad. It’s the same when you are learning to love yourself. The only difference is that… you’re doing it alone, you don’t have that other person. This is what your lows might look like, of feeling alone and frustrated . During these times you need to continue choosing yourself, continue excepting yourself and continue having empowering self talk. Remember that the low will not last forever and that things will get better.
Remember that you are not the only one struggling to love themself and that there are many more other people that are going through the same journey.
