Loving From The Inside Out: Love Yourself First ❤

“Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world.”
– Lucille Ball

We spent so much time investing in people and nurturing relationships, forgetting that the relationship we have with our own self sets the tone for all the relationship we will ever have.

We walk around encouraging people, smiling at them, pouring all those wonderful things into them and their life but how much time do we take to do it for ourselves? How much time do we allow ourselves to spend filling our own tank? We run around filling other people’s cup and then get dumbfounded when we finally crash and come to the realization that we have poured so much in others but so little in ourselves.

When was the last time you felt proud of yourself? when was the last time you looked at yourself in a mirror and told yourself: “I love you” or “I am proud of you”? When was the last time you checked in with your feelings? When was the last time you stood up for yourself? when was the last time you complimented yourself? did something nice for yourself? when was the last time you allowed yourself to let it go, sit in the heartbreak of all the situations that brought you sorrows, allowed them to be what they are without judging yourself? when was the last time you allowed yourself to cry? To be angry? To be sad? To be happy? When was the last time you allowed yourself to feel without judging yourself or your emotions?

See we walk around looking like superheroes and fooling the world into thinking that we are superheroes but we are not. We are human and if there is anything coming close to having a superpower it is our mastered ability to build façades to conceal our flaws and not allow ourselves to be who we truly are, express how we truly feel and be okay with it.

To be able to love someone truly you need to love yourself first. Yes, you can love others without loving yourself but you will eventually be running on an empty tank. Why? because by not loving yourself you will not be able to receive love from an external source. And if you do it will go right out because you haven’t developed a relationship with yourself that allows you to hold on to the good that is being poured in you.

So, before you look up to someone to fill the void, to love you, to encourage you, to be proud of you, to treat you well, do it for you. treat yourself the way you want people to treat you, be good to yourself. be gentle with yourself, be kind with yourself and the people who reflect those things you do for yourself will come into your life and pour greatness, love and all those great things you do for yourself ten folds and perhaps more.

-Excerpt from a memoir I will never write #3