To be honest, I think that the title of this article is utter crap too. Love yourself? What kind of egocentric luxury is that? Well, when I say "love yourself," I don’t mean marry a cardboard cutout of yourself (please don’t be that person). No; it’s a different kind of love.
Now close your eyes for a second and imagine your best friend. Imagine what that person did to earn the supreme title of “Best Friend.” Did that person forgive you even though you acted regrettably? Did your best friend cheer you on when you were power slapped down? Did that person make you believe for a second that life was actually enjoyable and bright? Hopefully, if you said yes to all of the above, then you know what it’s like to be loved. Now just apply what your best friend did to you to yourself.
This means being forgiving to yourself, remaining confident in yourself and being hopeful by yourself.
This is what it means to love yourself.
But why? I do admit that it’s hard. We are raised to not afford that luxury and are taught to pity ourselves. We are made to believe that the time we spend to reflect and learn about ourselves is not worth it. It’s a Herculean task to overcome that inculcation, but we have to because:
1. We have a responsibility to those who love us.
Of course, we don’t have to be perfect for them, but we have to be the best that we can be for them. If they see how at peace you are with yourself, it will make them happy.
2. You can only love once you love yourself.
Yes, it’s a cliché, but I believe there is some truth to it. If you can’t embrace what you dislike about yourself, how can you possibly do the same for others? How can you possibly be forgiving if you can’t even forgive your own mistakes?
3. We won't lose ourselves.
If we do not accept our flaws and ignore what troubles us, we push away our identity, a sense of who we are. If we can’t even reflect on ourselves, how can we possibly know ourselves?
4. You’ll be at peace.
Personally, when I was at that annoying self-pitying stage of my life, I was in a lot of self-induced anguish and sorrow. I wanted to change things about myself that I couldn’t so it was a cycle of hate that was useless to me. It was only when I stopped kicking myself that I saved myself from needless misery and felt at peace.
There are a lot more I can put in the list above, but I think it's up to you to discover your own reasons.
