“You should love yourself.” This is a phrase that I have heard a lot over the last few years, especially throughout high school. We all hit that point where we see nothing but flaws. It is something that I have struggled with immensely, but I am working on it. Being able to look in the mirror and say, “I am beautiful,” hasn’t always been the easiest to say. But it IS possible. And it is important. It is important to know that you are worth all of the stars in the sky. It is important to know that you are absolutely, extraordinary and that you deserve nothing but the very best. Of course, is it a long process and something that you must remind yourself of daily, but with time and patience, it can be achieved.

Loving yourself is about going to the deepest and darkest part of your mind and telling yourself, “I wholeheartedly accept you and all your flaws. I accept everything that you are and will be. I believe in you and everything that you want to do in life.” Is it easy? Of course not, but it is the first step in this journey. Loving yourself is knowing that you are in charge of how you feel everyday and that TODAY and everyday after that, you choose happiness. It is about setting the tone for every relationship that you will have in the future. Loving yourself should come before loving anyone else. The love and attention that you are so badly craving from someone else, is the love and attention that you need to give yourself. You must remind yourself everyday that you are beautiful, deserving, intelligent, creative, brave, strong and completely able of everything you want to do in life. The first step to loving yourself is accepting your flaws. Its about accepting the not so good parts and saying, “I accept this flaw of mine and from now on I will look at it is a positive.” Once you accept them, THAT is when you will begin to realize that everything about you doesn’t need to be perfect for you to be great. You are beautiful/handsome. You deserve nothing but the best. And most importantly, you are worth so much more than you think.