I AM SELF-LOVE

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matthew 22:39

I can Love myself and show myself Love even when others don’t know how to Love me.

I am a lover and respecter of words. They have meanings that have developed over time, as society shifts sometimes they gain new meanings, and I like to have a plethora of words at my disposal when speaking and writing. One thing I do when coming up with my affirmations is try to find the best fit word to explain what I’m doing in as concise a way as possible, and the easiest way to do that is with a thesaurus looking for synonyms. When I did that today, wanting to see if I could find a better way to say Self-Love, I was taken back by what I saw. The first words to pop up are all negative! Coceit, narcissism, vainglory, vanity, pompous, self-absorbed, self-centered. I refuse to go on. How have we allowed loving ourselves to get such a negative connotation? Well I’m putting a stop to that right now and I’m going to affirm you, dear readers, to LOVE YOURSELVES and to be worthy of that Self-Love.

Affirmation #1: Loving yourself is NOT wrong. Point, blank, period. This notion that our first love needs to be anyone other than ourselves needs to go away and never return. We all have different stories about how we entered this life. Some of us entered loving homes but others were not fortunate in that way. Some people had a true Matilda experience and were born to people who don’t understand them or love them. If that is you, and you started life with no one to turn to but yourself, give yourself credit and love for surviving what many cannot. It is not selfish to love yourself. It is not greedy to make sure your needs are met. It is not bad to teach others how to treat you or to value you. Don’t forget it.

Affirmation #2: Self-Love is True Love. The way you treat yourself should be the greatest showing of love you ever witness. Taking care of your body, mind and spirit is beautiful and magical and you are most deserving. Don’t let anyone convince you that the Love you have for yourself should be sacrificed for a love of anyone else. We may make sacrifices of comfort and resources to show others we care for them, and relationships are all about communication and compromise, but Self-Love is not a lane you should be pulling from to show love to anyone else. Always Love yourself. And remember, changing the way you show yourself Love doesn’t mean you’re changing the Love.

Affirmation #3: You can’t Love others without Loving yourself first. God gave us 2 great commandments: Love Him with everything we’ve got and to Love our neighbors. But that commandment to Love our neighbors was very specific: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:39) AS YOURSELF! He is literally telling us to Love other people the way we Love ourselves which means we HAVE to Love ourselves first to know how to treat other people. Love you so you can Love them. Know how you want to be treated so you can treat them that way. Know what makes you happy so you can make others happy. God has commanded you to Love yourself, so why do you feel so guilty about doing it?

I hope, my loves, that your negative image of Self-Love stops here and now and that you move forward with a desire to better know, care for, and Love yourself. I believe in you, and I love you. Keep conquering daily.