A Reminder To Love Yourself Unconditionally, Flaws and All

We human beings are fans of giving out love but abandoning the person who needs our love the most—ourselves. And yes, I’m sure you’re already cringing, but please stick with me.

For me, this year has been a huge journey of self-acceptance and self-love, two areas that tie in together but nevertheless two victims that have always sat on the backburner. While I’ve been preaching acceptance, love and care of one’s self for over a year now, I’d be lying if I said I was a receiver of the advice I give out.

I use “journey” lightly, as I believe self-improvement is a lifelong journey that doesn’t necessarily lead to a dead end destination. Learning to love yourself can be challenging at the best of times. It’s something that we struggle to do, as though we aren’t conditioned to do so.

Self-love and acceptance is so important for our mental well-being. You’ll struggle to live life fully if you’re constantly focusing on your mistakes, flaws, and all the things you think you should have done. Our mental state affects our quality of life, so if you’re looking to improve any area of your life, it’s definitely a starting point.

A misconception I think most of us have, myself included, is that we have to be a certain form of perfect to be worthy of self-love and acceptance. The truth is the word perfect was never meant to be used to describe us humans—unless you’re Beyonce. We are flawed and that is okay!

We make mistakes, we mess up over and over again, but we learn and grow as a consequence. Choose to feed the good wolf, especially on the days where you feel like letting the evil wolf win.

While we prioritise jobs, relationships, friendships, and family, we forget to turn our attention inwards to what’s going on in our minds. Forgiveness, acceptance and self-love all fall under the umbrella of moving on.

To improve any area of our lives, we must forgive mistakes we’ve made, accept what’s done and what’s out of our control, and learn to love the elements of ourselves we dislike the most.

Sometimes taking a time out from it all is self-loving. Sometimes calling up a friend for a catch up is self-loving. There are no right or wrongs to self-care. It’s about what works for you.

So choose you, if only for today.