Loving Your Self First

A friend contacted me last night. She has been trying to lose weight for the past few weeks and when things got tough in her personal life, she got depressed about her lack of motivation. She felt as if she had failed.



At that point, I encouraged her to go to the mirror and talk to herself. To tell herself she was proud of her accomplishments for the day, no matter how small or insignificant they seemed. I wanted her to find what temptations she had resisted for the day and applaud herself for that as well. Sadly, she asked me, "What if I don't feel proud or have anything I resisted?".



My response was, "You did. Find it." It didn't take her much longer to find those things in her life, but it was obviously difficult for her as she said, "Am I supposed to cry?".



"Crying is ok. Be proud for giving yourself permission to feel those emotions."

At that point, I told her to say, "(Jane), I love you."

"That is so hard to do!" she exclaimed.

We sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are not necessarily what we see in the mirror. We are so much more than that. Our bodies do not define us, our roles do not define us, our jobs do not define us. Learning to love the essence of your "self" is truly something we all need to work at.

Take some time to fall in love with the one person on the planet through whom all things are possible...yourself. Then, and only then, will you have the capacity to love others to the absolute best of your ability.

Love and Gratitude for Myself and Others~
Erin