No I’m not talking about the love that you feel for another person that makes you feel all warm and fuzzy.  Not the silly smile that appears on your face when you think about them.  Not even the lasting love for someone for their strengths and challenges.

I’m talking about self love.  When did this become not a thing we do?  We talk about relationships incessantly with our friends and family but when was the last time you talked about the love that you have discovered for yourself?

This can take many shapes and forms.  The easiest and most obvious is the one person you see in the mirror.  We are bombarded with nutrition information to make yourself whatever form is most popular.  We jump on every fitness bandwagon there is so what we see in the mirror is something we can love.

We need to change our thinking.  I have asked you to do this in other ways but lets start with love for ourselves.  Who looks at their kid or fur baby or mother and thinks I would love you if only……NO!  No we do not do that! We start with unconditional love then address challenge and embrace strengths.

How to start?  People love you!  Someone loves you no matter what, family, friends, (in my opinion) God.  They love you.  You need to accept the fact that you are indeed lovable and loved.  And be ok with loving yourself as well.  Now I’m not says you go around thinking that you are the most amazing being on earth.  Just wake up everyday with love in your heart for yourself.  So thats the easy part.

We change, we change the way we think, the way we view the world, our jobs, our cars, our house, our bodies, our health, our finances.  We change daily sometimes in small ways and big in some ways.  Sometimes the change happens over time and you have to keep working at the love you have for you.

I’m in my mid-thirties and I thought I had this figured out.  There are qualities that I love about myself and some that I know I needed to work on.  I was solid in my faith and religion and on a path that I thought was leading to growth.  I have my master’s degree, I was working on becoming a kinda expert in something I was passionate about.  I have a wonderful family and solid friendship.  I was healthy to my standards and enjoyed to workouts I chose for myself.  Then life changed.  And I have to tell you, I am at square one on loving myself.  And it is disheartening, horrifying, and humbling.

This is how I am restarting.  I am finding one thing that I still love about me everyday.  My husband calls it stubbornness but I call it being driven.  I am driven to not be defeated by this change.  I have to tell you, for now, that is all I have somedays.  That one thing.  Other days I find another, but like learning a new skill, its hard to do it well daily.  I guess my skill level is inconsistent at best these days.  You may find you do this too.  So start today and find one thing to love about yourself.  I would suggest it is not found in the mirror but in your spirit or personality.  Lets all just start there and add bit by bit, day by day.  There are so many things to love about yourself but it will take time to see them all.  I have faith that we will all be there or be there again if we commit to it.  No one wants to live life like an insecure teenager forever.

I will warn you, the world will not make this easy.  People are not always so kind and we are so judgmental of each other.  Why do we do this; we are all on the same hard journey?  I can tell you my journey is so hard right now I have no business telling anyone that they are a mess.  I can however welcome them to travel with me on the path of change if they would like.  I can tell you what I have learned so far and I promise to support you one this journey.  If you keep your focus inward on loving you and making the changes you need to make, and lifting others up; then you won’t hear what others are saying and eventually you just won’t care.  That is just part of their journey.

Who’s with me?  What are some of the strengths you are starting with today?  Are you willing to lift others up too?

Peace on your journey!