Loving yourself does NOT mean....
1. That you're flawless.
You can love yourself and still think you're kinda ugly. You can love yourself and still think you're overweight. You can love yourself *despite* your flaws because denial isn't going to get you far. This is aimed at people who deliberately ignore their short-comings because they want to love themselves.
You can be fat and love yourself but you can ALSO love yourself and strive to be fit. Loving yourself and having flaws are not mutually exclusive. The key to loving yourself is that you acknowledge your flaws and accept them so they can't be used against you.
2. That other people will love you too.
People put too much value in what other people think of them. Not everyone will like you no matter how hard you try. Life sucks trying to please everyone which is why you should strive to be please *yourself* and the people who you care about. The sentiment that "if you love yourself first, the whole world will follow" is false because there is no possible way that you can fit everyone's idea of what beauty, intelligence or a good personality is.
Burlesque dancer, Dita Von Teese (pictured above) who is admired and lusted over by the masses is NOT loved by everyone. If you don't have some haters, then are you really putting yourself out there?
3. That you can't have bad days.
Everybody has bad days. Including the most confident/talented/intelligent/beautiful people on the planet, they have bad days where their conversations don't flow well. Days where they feel awkward and make bad choices. It's a human characteristic to have negative emotions to offset the positive ones. You can't have the happiness without the sadness similar to how you can't appreciate the presence of a friend without absence.
CONCLUSION:
Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat." -Warsan Shire
Self-love means you accept yourself the way you are, including your faults. You have to approve of yourself. You have to stay in the mindset that you deserve to be comfortable, to be happy and to be successful. Do NOT sabotage yourself in the pursuit of who you want to be. Loving yourself doesn't mean settling for mediocrity, loving yourself means feeling worthy of love, success and happiness.
Thanks for reading. Love yourself in 2017 and beyond xx
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