I am going to start this off with a quote from Lucille Ball. I think that what she says in two short sentences can make a lot of sense when we really think about it.
"Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world."
The key to any relationship in life is to learn how to love yourself first. The key to get anything done in your life is to love yourself first. This may sound selfish, but it is far from. If anyone tells you differently too then you tell them to go love themselves. Chances are people who disagree with this are the ones who struggle to give themselves the love and respect they deserve. In order to love someone else you need to understand how to love yourself first. You need to love yourself because how can you give someone else such strong feelings if you don't have them for yourself. You don't have any to give away and you need to let yourself feel those feelings first before you can confidently say that you do love and care for another person. It can be your mother, father, brother, sister, friend, significant other, child, niece, aunt, grandparents, it goes for anyone who is special in your life. You can give your love away to multiple people too just always make sure that you are getting it back in return because how is it far to show someone another side of you emotionally if they can't do the same.
When people give someone love and that person doesn't return it this is when feelings get hurt and people break. These can be tough times, but that can be made easier when you know that you love yourself and that you should be treated better than that person did. By loving yourself first you figure out how and why someone should treat you certain ways. You as a person who is loved should be treated with respect, honesty, and given happiness. If you can give this to yourself first then you are headed in the right direction. This is because if you can make yourself happy without others than you are one step ahead of most people. Most people struggle to make themselves happy and relay on a significant other to do that. But this doesn't make any sense. That is because when you look back to childhood your parents and family members are the ones making you happy and giving you love. When you grow up into the teenage years you start to learn about yourself and who you are. When you do this you are loving yourself even if you don't realize it. Then once you get into a relationship you focus on them making you happy.
My question is why do we do this and switch from such a good mental place to a not so good one. Don't get me wrong, it is amazing if you can find someone who makes you so happy to the point where you don't have to focus on yourself making you so happy. But if something goes south and you are left to pick up yourself then you need to make sure that you still know how to love yourself. It is being able to balance yourself and others. This can take time and work on yourself, but don't worry it comes with time and if you aren't there yet you can get there.
So please take the time to love yourself and learn what you deserve before you go off and try to love someone else. Love is a funny thing and can pop up all over the place. Love is good and we all should experience it with family, friends and ourselves.