February is known as the month of love by many. It is a time when many of us pull loved ones a little closer, indulge in sweets, and focus more on the romantic side of life with those we care for. And February is also a great time to show yourself a little extra love and today is a different kind of Valentine’s Day post- all about Self Love.
Self Love
Showing yourself love is more than just luxurious baths and buying yourself flowers; it’s about changing your mindset to look at yourself in a kind, healthy, and loving way. It’s about allowing yourself the time to be present, to do more of the things you love, and more than anything, self-love is about learning to love yourself for exactly who you are without judgment. I have invited my very wise daughter back to share a post about 5 ways to kickstart your self-love journey and get on your way to embracing a happier, healthier life moving forward.
1. Focus on self-acceptance
There’s no doubt about it; we all have things we want to change about ourselves. We live in a society that constantly tells us we need to change this and that to be beautiful. But it’s time we stop letting this rule our lives and start recognizing the beauty that is already within us. And self-acceptance is the first step to this.
I am a big advocate for doing things that make you feel beautiful––coloring your hair to look a certain way, wearing certain clothes that make you feel more confident or using certain products to make yourself feel beautiful because everyone deserves to feel good about themselves. But we do have to be careful not to fall into the belief that we need these things to be beautiful. Instead, we need to learn to love ourselves now while working to become the person we want to be.
If we always tell ourselves, “I’ll only be beautiful when I’m this weight, or I’ll only be happy when I look this much younger,” we’ll spend our whole life unhappy, beating ourselves down, never feeling good enough, and never accepting the beauty we already have. But, if we make small daily efforts to recognize the beauty already there, eventually, it will be all that we see. It is just a matter of choosing to see yourself through the eyes of love rather than judgment.
Today and every day after, choose love––choose acceptance––choose you, because it’s time we all stop living each day, never feeling good about ourselves, and start choosing to love ourselves through all our phases while we work to become the best version of ourselves along the way.
2. Write yourself a love letter
Just as you would compose a letter full of admiration for someone you love, take time to sit down and do that for yourself. The best part about writing a love letter to yourself is that it’s unique and could consist of anything you want to praise about yourself. It could be positive things you love and admire about your personality, words of kindness and encouragement for your future, praise for your accomplishments, or simply a letter of forgiveness for something from the past you may still be holding onto. Whatever you choose to write about, be thoughtful and kind, and write as many wonderful things about yourself as you can think of.
3. Kickstart a daily self-care routine
A self-care routine can be a great way for you to incorporate a little love and pampering into your daily life. To some, it is the act of performing a rejuvenating skincare routine in the evening or taking a long bath. To others, it can be sitting down with a cup of tea to enjoy a good book. Or, it could even be as simple as allowing yourself the time to go outside and soak up the sun for a few quiet moments each day. One of my favorite self care things is sitting in the sun and holding my chickens. Whatever your form of self-care looks like, this month is a great time to start building a routine, practicing it regularly and making yourself and your well-being more of a priority.
4. Treat yourself regularly
Aside from self-care, another way to practice self-love through the act of giving is to treat yourself to something nice. Treating yourself is different from a self-care routine in that this should be looked at as an occasional indulgence or gift to yourself, while a self-care routine should be viewed as an everyday necessity. Whether that’s getting your hair done, scheduling a massage, or taking a much-needed weekend trip, treating yourself is an important part of welcoming more self-love into your life and teaching yourself that it’s okay to indulge in yourself without feeling guilty.
5. Commit to you
The idea of self-love sounds good on the surface, but it can sometimes be difficult to start embracing unless you are committed to making a change in your life. Like building muscle, learning self-love takes time and energy, but if you are willing to put in the work every day to change your thoughts and show yourself a little extra care, you can do anything. You just have to remember to be patient, kind, and understanding of yourself and any pebbles in the path along the way to learning it.
Working on changing negative thoughts, complimenting yourself more, and choosing to see the good things about yourself instead of areas you would change is a good thing and brings more happiness and contentment to your everyday life.
Happy Tuesday everyone.
what a beautifully written post of wisdom for our wellbeing courtney. i grew up with the teaching of, “love others before yourself.” i spent so many years feeling quite overwhelmed at times by. following this way of being. i have learned that you must love yourself and nurture yourself before you are equipped to give to others in a healthy way. i have taught my grandchildren to look at themselves in the mirror every morning and say, “Hi Beautiful!”
Love that Mona! What a great gift you are giving them by teaching them that.