You Gotta Love Yo’ Self

Tiffani

9 years ago

With valentines day being this weekend, and love being in the air, I think it’s really important for everyone to remember how important loving yourself is! While I think and know it’s a great feeling to love and be loved by someone, it is most important to understand how to actually love yourself. It’s easy for women in particular to get so consumed in a relationship that you forget all about the “me” factor. Here’s a few ways to Love Yo’ Self this V-day.

1. Spend time with yourself. This is a biggie y’all. I’m thankful to have this space as my outlet that I can do alone. I don’t need someone helping me with every aspect, I don’t have to take each post to an editor, I just do it. All by myself. There are days, I just simply enjoy sitting down at my desk, and doing nothing. Sometimes it means writing a new post, some days, it’s adding $700 worth of junk to my Amazon cart and then just leaving it, and some days it just means going for a drive by myself. Some days, being alone is great.

2. Focus on your strengths. You have things you’re good at, and you have things you suck at. But if you are only thinking about the things you suck at, how are you ever going to get better at the things you’re good at. Write down the things you love, or are really good at and embrace them.

3. Stop comparing yourself to anything. When you think about it, theres only one you, and YOU get to be whatever kind of you you want to be. Just let that sink in for a minute. Embrace yourself, because the models in magazines are airbrushed and the “perfect-life” people are hiding something too. Just think about how lucky you are that you get to wake up every single day and live life in whatever way you want to live.

4. Forgive yourself. There are days where I get so mad that I’ve screwed something up, overcooked a steak, or totally neglected my to-do list, and I’m so upset that I literally can’t function. That may be a bit exaggerated, but seriously, get the heck over it y’all. Forgive yourself, and forgive yourself often, especially when it’s something only you can control. Staying mad at yourself is just silly.

5. Set goals for yourself. Set reasonable goals, and rock them. Even if it’s just to wake up 10 minutes earlier every day, set that goal and accomplish it. Goals get categorized as “impossible” far too often. Goals do not have to be impossible, and they should never be impossible.

6. Never apologize for your beliefs. This shouldn’t even be a thing, but lately, I am seeing this more and more. You have beliefs and values for a reason, you have developed them all on your own, and YOU deserve to be able to believe in them all you want. When a person questions your beliefs, they’re more than likely trying to test you. Don’t give in. They’re YOUR beliefs for a damn good reason. Stick to them, and love them.

7. Most importantly, talk to yourself the way you talk to someone you love.

Loving yourself is so much more than just being like “hey girl, you rock.” I learned to love myself at a time when I thought I was truly unlovable. After being in an awful relationship for almost two years, with a person who was so wrong for me, I realized I meant more to myself than any boy ever should. I began putting these tips in to action, and realized how good it felt to love myself. Then, more than ever before, I was thinking for myself and actually focusing on my wants and needs, rather than someone else.

That being said, after spending quite a bit of time loving myself, I was able to understand how to love someone else, and at the most perfect time, someone walked in to my life. The best part about my relationship with Thomas, is we know how to love ourselves, and while that may sound a bit selfish, it is the basis of our relationship and I couldn’t be more thankful for it!