Are you looking for LOVE in all the wrong places?
Love is something you can choose to give YOURSELF.
I believe that if we choose to love and respect ourselves, we then teach others how to love and respect us. It starts within ourselves and the example that we set.
All that love and compassion that you so freely give to others; what if you treated yourself with the same love and compassion?
Valentine's Day can have a lot of emotional attachments to it whether it is past love and relationship experiences or expectations within your current situation. When we set grand expectations and expect someone else to fulfill them, it can often lead to disappointment.
If you are a person that loves gifts, it is possible to give yourself gifts on Valentine’s Day and any day of the year, simply because you love and appreciate yourself. If we have someone in our life that gives us the gifts that warm our hearts, without obligation (just because they choose to), that's like icing on the cake.
When we choose to love ourselves the way we would like to be loved because we are worth it and deserve it, our worlds become so much richer. When we choose to make a practice of doing nice, loving things for ourselves we are teaching others that we deserve love and respect. Love and kindness doesn’t have a dollar value attached to it. There are many nice, loving things you can do for yourself for free - be creative! If it has been a while since you have had any loving thought or action toward yourself. Don’t worry you can start now, here are a few ideas:
Write yourself love notes. Create a list of all the things that you appreciate about yourself and say it out loud, every day. Post some notes on your mirror, so you can remind yourself.
Speak kindly and lovingly to yourself. Rather than stand in front of a mirror and pick at all the things that we don’t like about ourselves, let's take some time to appreciate our uniqueness and the miracles that we are. Be aware of any negative narrative and flip it to a positive internal dialogue.
Let go of self-sabotaging behaviours and negative thoughts. Love and cherish you and the gift you are in this world.
Loving yourself is one of the most powerful things you can do for your well-being.
Valentine’s Day may be a rough day, if you have lost your significant other, are on the other side of a breakup or divorce, are single and wishing for a relationship, or if you are struggling with loving and respecting yourself.
If you are struggling with emotional distress this Valentine’s Day or any other day of the year, please reach out. You are worthy of love!