Do YOU Love You?

Do you love yourself? I mean REALLY love yourself? I'm not talking about walking by a mirror and winking at yourself as you go by, I'm talking about going to bed at night and being happy with who you are, what you've accomplished, what you stand for and who you are as a human being. Do you LOVE you?

It took me almost 45 years to really love myself. To love the woman I am as beautiful, and flawed, and real as I am was not an easy task. So many of us are wired not to love ourselves. We are told we are conceited or arrogant or narcissistic. But that is so far from the truth and here is what I mean.

Loving yourself is completely accepting yourself as you are. It is accepting the flaws that you have, its being OK with your jiggly thighs and your snort when you laugh. Its accepting that you are emotional and you giggle and that you get angry sometimes despite wanting to be in a great mood. It is the ability to not sabotage yourself and criticize yourself.

If you can accept and love yourself unconditionally, then you'll be able to love someone else more freely without judgement as well. You'll find gratitude in more things, you'll be happier, you'll also discover that you don't need anyone else to make you happy, you can do that on your own. Loving yourself means that you can critique yourself without judging yourself or putting yourself down. Loving yourself means you can accept how you feel in your skin, you may not be perfect, you may need to lose or gain ten pounds or firm up a bit or you may be sexy as a super model but you know and recognize that you are a work in progress and you are committed to being the best you that you can... AND WANT to be. It is also accepting yourself in the process. Loving yourself means that you can know that you have flaws and that you have a plan to keep going and to improve what you're not happy with. Loving yourself means that you are committed to taking care of yourself, keeping yourself healthy in mind, body and spirit. Loving yourself means that you will take the time to power down, fuel up, and recharge as needed. Loving yourself means that you recognize yourself as a caregiver to others but also to yourself. It means that you acknowledge that you need love too and that you are willing to love yourself enough to make sure you are lovable to others as well.