Look up self-love in the dictionary and you are bound to find words like conceit, vanity, and narcissism. You will also find the antonym for self-love is modesty. We learn from an early age from our culture, parents, teachers, religious leaders and coaches that not only honesty, but modesty is the best policy. Operating within the extremes of how our world defines self-love, isn’t it interesting that a culture so focused on individual left out one of the most important gifts we can give to ourselves. It was put beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13:13 as it reads, “the three most important things to have are faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of them is love” (New International Reader’s Version). Why is love so complicated? Why is it so hard to love ourselves?
Common phrases like love your neighbor like you love yourself or no one can love you until you love yourself tell us that self-love is an important ingredient in our relationships with others; beyond the relationship with self. Having self-awareness and an ability to identify our needs and desires at our core is self-love. Having the ability to say I’m enough is self-love. Self-love comes with an abundance of authenticity and confidence in truly knowing and living your story.
Living in a world of hurt, sadness, and feeling pushed down can make recognizing this gift and receiving it extremely difficult. If you feel like you need a cup of self-love, Ashley Blomeley Counseling can help you. Make the call today and embark on a journey of self-discovery and self-worth at (706) 503-3906.
Source: Madly in Love with Me by Christine Arylo