The idea of loving myself is something that recently resonated with me; I have spent a lot of time thinking about what it means to truly love myself. For me, self-acceptance is something that has not always come easy; I give myself high expectations, and often times I am hard on myself for my shortcomings. I used to think this was a bad trait, however, I have discovered it to be a great quality of mine because I have learned to channel the negative energy to positive changes. To me, loving yourself not only means loving and accepting everything about me, it also means taking care of myself and nourishing your life with positive actions.

One of the greatest stepping-stones I made in my life was choosing to nourish my body with healthy foods and to move my body every day as it needs; I did this by transitioning to a vegan diet. With the media creating an image of what is beautiful often times leaves women (including myself) feeling as though they need to be a certain weight and look a certain way. These past years I have transitioned to a plant based diet and I have focused on eating foods that make me feel good and that provide me with the energy I need to exercise, have fun, and share my love with others each day. This transition has helped me avoid the negative mentality of cutting calories and forced exercise. I chose every day to fill my body with healthy meals and positive energy to go about my day; this to me is a way of loving myself.

Another way that I love myself is by surrounding myself with positive people who cherish my presence as much as I do there’s. Instead of focusing on people who may not give me the attention that I think you want, I focus on the people who show me how much they love and care about me each day. The quality of friendships is much more important to me then the quantity. I also remind myself often that it's okay if some people don't like me, that’s just how it is and there is no point on dwelling on that fact because it will only bring you down. Making an effort to bring positive people into my life is another way that I love myself.

To continue off of my last thought, oftentimes, when someone lets me down I take it incredibly personally and feel as though there might be something wrong with me or that I am not good enough. This way of thinking I have found gets me no where, instead of focusing on how they let me down I try to just see it as a bump in the road and move on. I do however, remind myself how terrible it feels to be let down when when I am about to let a friend or acquaintance down. This helps me to make a difference choice and be a kind person; I love myself by not letting "bumps in the road" bring me down.

On a more positive note, another way I love myself is by doing things I love every day. I love to ski and be in the mountains and so I chose every day to put myself in that element. Obviously school and work can get away of fun activities like skiing, but even after work or class a 5 minute break always makes me feel much better. The saying "do what you love, love what you do" explains my point.

These are just a few reminders that I tell myself when life gets tough. Everyone has there own perspectives and this is just my personal philosophy on loving myself. We are so lucky to be alive and to have freedom to create a life that we love. I have found that not allowing the negative things in life to hold me back has brought me so much happiness and productiveness in my life.