Oh, Love.
This subject is crucial!
We strive to love and be loved throughout our entire lives.
most frequently with joy, but frequently with pain!
What is self-love, then?
How do we cultivate self-love and acceptance?
How can you improve your ability to love others by learning to love yourself?
I invite you to respond to these inquiries in this episode and to journey with me towards self-love.
This essay was written as a component of my 32-article challenge, which was motivated by best-selling author Louise Hay's belief that we can all positively transform our lives.
Being able to love oneself is the definition of self-love.
That is, your capacity to understand, accept, and value who you are as a person.
Knowing the immense miracle that is human life and having a deep respect and love for this expression of Life that is oneself are prerequisites for self-love.
Therefore, genuine self-love is unconditional: I love myself and I am deserving of love just because I am here!
Many of us are aware of the proverb "love your neighbour as yourself" and actively work to live by it.
We strive to win the approval of others.
We make an effort to behave kindly and generously.
Even when they don't ask, we try our best to assist and counsel others!
We then look for love and appreciation in return for everything we do.
But as a result, we find ourselves concentrating on other people and things that are external to us.
To the extent that we lose sight of the adage "like yourself" and become reliant on the affection that others wish to shower upon us.
In actuality, the call to love your neighbour is to love yourself first—as yourself!
Because being able to love oneself is necessary in order to be happy and fulfilled.
In fact, one of the main pillars of self-confidence, which is so important for the feeling of success and the ability to positively impact others and society, is self-love, which is closely related to self-esteem.
The fields of psychology and neuroscience have long engaged in research on this subject.
And as this 2015 study demonstrates, for instance, the foundations of sound mental and emotional health are love and self-esteem.
A person is more likely to be content and happy in both his personal and professional life if he loves and accepts himself as he is.
Therefore, without a strong love for oneself, it is impossible to love the other in a healthy and joyful way.
Being fully aware of your value, you accept the fact that you are worthy and deserving of respect, love, and everything else that life has to offer, without having to do anything to earn it from others or from yourself.
Lack of self-love is frequently a legacy of the socioemotional environment in which children were raised and the type of education they received.
The development of self-love is also influenced by cultural and spiritual beliefs, experiences of success and failure, and other factors.