Love Your Family, Love Your Friends, Most Importantly, Love You!

The most important relationship you will ever have is the one with yourself.

Self-love is an inner state that occurs when you decide that it is okay to be who you are and recognizing what you want is important.

Self respect, responsibility for self, and feeling good are important values. Appreciation and acceptance of oneself, of flaws and strengths alike, allows for a balanced, loving approach toward ourselves. It enables increased creativity, resilience from adversity, and allows us to give of ourselves more freely to others.

The following are characteristics of those who have learned to accept and love themselves:

* They recognize feeling good empowers them

* Choose to be happy and to share joy with others

* They set boundaries for self-care and don’t allow mistreatment by others

* They are caring and appreciative towards others

* They find a thought that feels good, and practice it

* When conflict or adversity arises, they ‘bounce back’

Returning to a place of self love, appreciation and acceptance is a continuous journey reinforced by actions that encourage and support well-being. These actions are different for everyone but doing what you think is best for you is what’s most important.

These actions could include:

~Eating well and moving our body

~Making time for reflection or meditation

~Doing our best in all situations

~Being gentle on ourselves when we make mistakes

~Choosing to have a positive outlook

We make a new decision to be alive, to be happier and more fulfilled in our own lives and to accept personal responsibility to make life a better, more enjoyable experience.

When we truly love and appreciate ourselves, then our hearts are open to love others.

“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Originally published in the Gratitude Habitat February 2012 newsletter, Crave Appreciation, Not Chocolate