Love yourself

One of the greatest proclamations, and yet I believe severely misunderstood.

At least, I was totally confused.
I had focused strongly on the first part of love your neighbor, love your family, love your friends, love the stranger, love the world, all of which is absolutely important, however I didn’t know how to love myself.
I have been rude, forceful, doubting and diminishing of Me. I have ignored and destroyed boundaries, believed I was irrelevant and have piled on the shame. I have been judgmental, hindering and made myself feel small. I ignored myself and definitely have denied myself forgiveness for imperfection.

Sure- I was doing the “self love” stuff like going shopping when I wasn’t feeling great, getting a massage, eating well and still having chocolate when I wanted, drinking water, taking me time, and chasing dreams and goals.

Then I realized this is surface level. Real love is bigger.

Loving yourself means forgiving yourself, having patience with yourself, seeing your potential, recognizing the self talk, and letting go of the conditional beliefs. It’s knowing you are whole, imperfectly perfect. It’s honoring your emotions, and compassionately allowing them. It’s changing your perspective, and rekindling your light. It’s seeing your mistakes and forgiving them.
To love your neighbor, you must love yourself. We are much more effective when we realize we ARE an important part of the whole. We are deserving of love, not by an outside source but through an internal knowing. It’s seeing we are loved not because we DO but because we are. When we are connected to love this way, we are more easily able to love others the same way, because we can show them their own internal knowing too. To show them love that is unconditional, compassionate, and forgiving, with boundaries that honor both wholes.

You are so loved. As you are.
Feel that Love. It’s already yours.