Game Changers: The Conscious Culture Men With Vision 2020 Edition | Page 14

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS
SELF-
LOVE
Self-love is a journey. It takes
dedication, devotion, and practice.
Curated by Lydia Pierre
Self-love is defined as regard for
one's own well-being and
happiness. For many people, the
concept of self-love might conjure
images of tree-hugging hippies or
cheesy self-help books. But, as
many psychology studies attest,
self-love and -compassion are key
for mental health and well-being,
keeping depression and anxiety at
bay.
Imagine how you treat yourself on
a daily basis as if you were another
person, in a relationship with you.
Are you good to yourself?
"You can search throughout the
entire universe for someone who
is more deserving of your love
and affection than you are
yourself, and that person is not to
be found anywhere. You yourself,
as much as anybody in the entire
universe deserve your love and
affection." -- Buddha
Most of the time, we are being too hard on
ourselves. We engage in lot of self-
criticism, and have that nagging inner
voice that constantly tells us how we
could've done things better. We all:
Beat ourselves up with cruel self-talk
Set ourselves up for failure with
unrealistic expectations
Deprive ourselves of things we deserve
through self-sabotaging behaviors
Abuse our bodies through neglect or
harmful choices
We tell ourselves that we do it because we
want to be great. We're driven by a desire
to excel and while that is a good thing, we
must know that we will not always do
everything right, all the time.
When engaging in self-love, we also work
to forgive ourselves, accept our flaws, and
embrace who we are. It sounds like
a paradox, but you cannot be altruistic,
caring, or compassionate unless you’re
selfish. Self-love isn’t about self-
indulgence; it is about taking care of
yourself.
Our greatest life lesson is learning
how to fully accept and love
ourselves. Until you do, you can't
completely and authentically give
and receive real love. This is
because when we love ourselves
we know that we can give without
becoming resentful, exhausted and
depleted, and we can receive
because we know we deserve it.
"EVEN IF IT
MAKES OTHERS
UNCOMFORTABLE,
I WILL LOVE WHO
I AM.”
- JANELLE MONÁE