I was asking myself over the weekend what "Loving Yourself " meant. I pondered for a bit and realized that as children that is something we most likely didn't hear on a consistent basis. We most likely were told the following:
- Love the Creator.
- Be kind to others.
- Respect your elders.
- Share your belongings.
- Help those who are not as fortunate as you.
- Get an education.
- Find a job that hopefully you enjoy.
- Turn the other cheek.
- Worship each week.
- Honor your Mother and Father.
I could go on and one, however, you get the drift. What becomes clear is that nowhere on the list is "Love yourself." I don't believe that our parents intentionally left loving ourselves off the list. I believe they just didn't consider it. For some, loving yourself may have meant being narcissistic, self-centered or basically too much self admiration. They were probably thinking they wanted us to be balanced and not over the top about ourselves. I can certainly understand that thought process.
However, I think it would have helped if they had added: TAKE CARE OF OTHERS AND ABOVE ALL LOVE YOURSELF FULLY.
Yet, for those of us who have struggled in our journey and become more aware of our thought demons; loving yourself has to be addressed. What does loving yourself look like to you? Answering that question is quite interesting because we see the ways in which we do love ourselves and we also see the ways we could love ourselves a little more.
For me I realized that not loving myself fully has been a constant theme and decisions I have made throughout my journey have been the result of not loving me one hundred percent. I didn't recognize at the time that our decisions are a telling sign of where we are in the loving ourselves chapter. I didn't realize that loving myself fully was the central ingredient to becoming whole.
What I ask of you today is that you tell yourself that you love you. Tell yourself that you love you because:
- You continue to strive to become your authentic self.
- You continue to uncover the layers of untruths about you.
- You continue to want better for you even when the images want to tell you otherwise.
- You continue to weather the storms that you encounter.
- You continue to listen for the answers when your thoughts are overcome with fear.
And the most important of all: You continue to WAKE YOURSELF so that you are fully present in the moment. This is major in "Loving Yourself." You are awake and you are FULLY PRESENT within this moment. Loving yourself fully means that you recognize the moment and at that precise moment: YOU ARE LOVING YOURSELF FULLY because it takes courage to stand in front of yourself and be present. When you accomplish this seemingly small task: I guarantee the Creator smiles and the universe is aligning itself with you. You are awake and fully present. What a gift to give yourself!
Until the next time,
Peaceful thoughts,
-Dorothea