Love Yourself

‘ If you want to soar in life, you must first learn to F.L.Y ( first love yourself) ‘ – Mark Sterling

I remember sitting in school being painfully bored when a teacher would go on and on about positive mental health, having a positive view of your body and mind etc and thinking would they ever just leave and go appear on Oprah or something.  But as I get older I realise that my problem wasn’t the message the teacher was trying to get into my teenage mind but the fact that as a teen I had no real idea who I was so it was  pretty hard to be confident and happy in myself.  I didn’t know exactly who I was in my early 20’s either but in the last 12 months or so  I’ve finally, well, found myself . Took long enough eh?!   I think once you know who you are it’s important to like who you are.

Loving yourself or even liking yourself are things so many people find hard to do, often it’s because in our society people will say you are full of it or have notions about yourself so for an easier life a lot of people undersell themselves but at what cost? I was at a Damien Dempsey concert a few weeks back and he talked about loving ourselves and loving what we see in the mirror. I can’t remember his exact words but he talked about kissing a mirror at night so when you look in it the next morning you can see the imprint of your lips and how that should make you happy as there is nothing more important than loving yourself and being comfortable in your own skin. Now I am aware that it may sound cheesy to some people but that is ok. I think for those of us out there who have struggled with self-acceptance, when you finally get that break through moment and start to like yourself, you will appreciate Damien’s message.  I’m not saying that you have to view yourself as perfect in order to love yourself, it’ s important to recognise your weaknesses  but not to obsess over them and constantly criticise yourself as many people do.  I think it is so important to appreciate whatever talents you have.

I find as the months go past, the less I care about people’s opinions of me, a person’s perception of you isn’t reality. If you want to know why they think a certain way about you than ask them, consider their reply (if you get one, sometimes asking people to back up their statement proves difficult) and decide whether you think it is a fair point or just someone being rude/jealous. If you don’t want to know then leave them to think whatever they wish!

Love yourself first and always.