Lately, as I have been speaking and communicating with various people of nearly the same age demographic as myself, I’ve come to a rather disheartening yet significant realization. Amidst the multitude of obligations, duties and fluctuations in the average adolescent’s life, it seems as though there is a prominent lack of commitment and attention given to one’s sense of self; in short there is a failure of self-love in the lives of far too many individuals.

Though it seems like a topic that is usually filtered out as one to be discussed in times of dire necessity, rising up in situations of extenuating circumstances, the overarching importance of loving oneself has to do with the inevitable fact that it has and should affect every single individual. I bring up my age demographic in particular because I witness firsthand, even within my own personal life, the inability for people to prioritize themselves, their happiness, and their emotional well-being.

I was talking to a friend recently about the simple yet very fragile topic of confidence. The supposedly ideal individual is one that flutters about with the utmost confidence in every action they take. Confidence is considered this effortless emotional state of self, one that is the superlative level self-love, that which everyone seeks to ultimately reach. But the truth of the matter is, there are steps to take to ever reach a level of confidence in oneself.

I think one of the problems that overwhelm people today, is this desire to portray confidence without legitimately feeling it. Confidence is not necessarily an adjective by which to act and interact, but it is a state that should be adapted into aspects of one’s life after fully digesting and believing the mindset attached to it.

Loving oneself is definitely one of the most important actions that should be consistently and continuously reinforced, and the truth of the matter is that we become so accustomed to monotony and a relatively scheduled lifestyle, that we forget to treat our emotions and mind to the self-appreciation, recognition and love that it deserves.

Recently, I have noticed that people connote the notion of loving oneself as a concept that is set aside for those that are suffering mental illnesses or coping with very grave situations. But loving oneself is important even for those that are having better, smoother days. Loving oneself is about invoking motivation and a sense of direction for an individual’s sake rather than for the needs of another. Loving yourself is appreciating the traits you possess as beautiful, necessary and unique. Loving yourself is understanding that you are worthy and valuable and never letting yourself settle for anything that does not satisfy your value. Loving yourself is remembering that you are capable and that no failure will ever have the ability to tear you down. Loving yourself is about surrounding yourself with the people that positively contribute to your happiness, but also being able to be alone sometimes without the desire for company. Loving yourself is about creating dreams and aspirations for yourself and allowing those dreams to guide you on your own journey through life. Loving yourself is about developing a profound gratitude for the skin that you wear and all that resides in it. It is essential for this to become not only a priority for all people but a state that is reached more often than not.

It is very easy to brush off the little actions that can be taken in order to further delve into one’s own emotional health and work towards doing things for yourself, but there is no amount of work or obligation that can be deemed more important than the need to take care of yourself as much as possible.

It is easy to blame the time crunch that we all face and the prevalence of intense stresses for the failure to actually sit down and ponder your underlying insecurities and discomfort in your own skin, but nobody should have to wander through our societal norms and expectations feeling as though they do not have a value that contributes to the overall well-being of mankind. Nobody should have to feel that their emotional suffering is insignificant and that as long as they fulfill their multiple roles and positions that it is sufficient.

It is important to nurture your own views on yourself and immerse yourself in the actions that deeply soothe your emotions such that it can make you believe the value that every individual holds.