Whether you just got out of a relationship or have never been in one, you must love yourself before you can love anyone else. Love is a powerful word that people use carelessly. As girls, we tend to find everything wrong with ourselves. No one else may see it or point it out, but we struggle with not being good enough. I'm here to tell every girl that you are good enough. Despite what your head tells you or what other people tell you, God made you just the way you are. To look down upon the features that he gave you is to look down on his beautiful creations.

"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them" Genesis 1:27

So what does it mean to TRULY love yourself?

It means accepting your flaws.

No matter what flaws you may have, those are what makes us all different and beautiful in our own way. In no way should you be ashamed by your flaws, instead you should embrace them and discover the positive things they bring out in you.

It means accepting your past.

If you have past faults that you have done that you continue to hold over yourself, it's time to accept them. Everyone makes bad choices throughout their life and it doesn't necessarily mean we are all bad people. The beauty of being human is knowing that we aren't perfect and we will sometimes do wrong. We do serve a forgiving God, though, and by him, he forgives us for our faults so in return you can forgive yourself. You can't run or hide from your past, so the best thing to do is accept it, learn from it, and move on. Accepting your past also means to accept where you came from and how you were brought up. Because that's truly what makes you who you are today.

It means learning to love every inch of your body.

This doesn't mean going on a diet, or a cleanse to be skinnier. This means to truly look at your body at any time and to be satisfied with it. This personally is one I have struggled with the most. I've never been the skinniest girl, although I'm not the biggest either, I still struggle with loving my body the way it is. Trying to work off the five pounds I gained while in school and work becomes overwhelming, but I've learned to live with it and love it. There is nothing wrong with our bodies, whether your 90 pounds or 150 pounds, everyone is beautiful no matter what.

It means to believe in yourself.

Truly believe that you are able to do whatever you want as long as you set your mind to it. Many people short themselves of what they can do, when in reality we have endless things we are capable of achieving. Don't ever let someone tell you that you aren't good enough or that you'll never make it. Prove them wrong and show everyone that you CAN do it. You must believe in yourself before anyone else will.

It means to stop focusing on approval from others and focus on approval from yourself.

Each and everyone one of us is different, and we all have the right to be different. You don't always have to do what everyone else is doing. Allow yourself to branch out and be the different one in the group. Allow yourself to live freely without a care about judgement.

Last thing to remember is that you will be with yourself for the rest of your life.

Let's forget about boyfriends/girlfriends and friends in general for right now. People that are in your life can be temporary. Let's focus on you and yourself, because ultimately that is how it's going to be in the end. If you don't start loving yourself now, you will never be able to fully love someone else.