Ahh February ! The month of love and purity. But besides all that Valentine’s love-liness, this is a perfect time to honour love in general —  and that includes that all-important self-love. 

There’s no doubt that feelings motivate us  — we do many things because we want to feel great !

But when we become more aware of the relationship between our thoughts, feelings and behaviours, and we take time to foster a more positive mindset and some emotional awareness, we know that this process starts within.

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And one of the most important things we can do ‘within’ ourselves, is to truly love ourselves.

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Yes, we’re talking about self-love. But what is it, really?

It’s not about selfishly refusing to care for or help anyone else.

It IS about giving yourself the time, attention and care that you need.

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Self-love is about giving yourself the time, attention and care that you need.

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Many people tend to treat self-love as a reward for finally becoming the person they want to be. This implies that their self love is subject to them being objectively ‘good’ or ‘successful.’

But, as the great Rumi stated, ‘Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.’

Self-love is a state of appreciation for yourself that grows from actions that support your physical, psychological and spiritual growth.

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As such, self-love is confident, warm and caring. It’s the complete acceptance of who, and what you are – the appreciation and affirmation of yourself.

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It’s the unconditional support, self-care, and compassion you give yourself that ultimately translates to good health, great self-esteem, happiness, total balance and well-being.

Self love is, therefore, a basic necessity;  a fundamental positive value that leads to inner peace and happiness.

It’s also open and honest — it’s the ultimate commitment : to get to know and accept yourself as you are; to fully experience life as it happens to you; to continually seek ways to physically, psychologically and spiritually grow from these experiences.

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And it starts with how you treat yourself.

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Only you can decide how to do that. And whilst it’s important that others treat you well too, self-esteem, self-confidence, self-trust and many other things can only come from the way we handle and treat ourselves.

It means listening to yourself; developing a strong positive mindset; truly caring for yourself in mind, body and soul; and accepting yourself whilst growing to be your biggest brightest self. 

Why is it important ?

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To love yourself is the key to happiness.

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You simply cannot take care of others until you take care of yourself first. When you truly, unconditionally love yourself, you can move through the world with deeper compassion for others, with a deep sense of joy and pleasure for the act of giving. It’s therefore your foundation and fuel. 

It also gives you the strength and grit to withstand difficulties, giving you 

greater resilience to withstand challenging life events or personal adversity. You will always know that this moment shall pass and say, ‘I’m okay, because I will treat myself kindly and fairly, no matter the situation.’

So bring on the self love, and everything else will follow. 

As we know, it all starts within. 

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For guided inspiration on how to practice self love, check out my on-line course ‘The Self-love Weekender’ . Or if you feel you need to relight your inner spark, then why not try my FREE ‘Light Your Inner Fire’ mini course here  

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