By Elmari Schutte
Yes, you're allowed to say that and to believe it.
Do you believe it? Do you ever say this to yourself? Or is "I love you", only reserved for other people, not yourself?
We are so busy with both important things and less important things. But do you ever take a moment to think about how wonderful you are?
Let's look at this wonderful you.
First, we'll look at the things you don't do.
Your heart beats 100,000 times a day and keeps at least 5 liters of blood circulating through your body. It's pumping all this blood through more than 90,000 kilometers of veins. Is this enough reason to love your heart?
When you wake up in the morning, do you think about what each muscle needs to do to get you out of bed and move you through the day? I didn't think so. But I know it's enough for me to love my muscles. Think about all the functions of your body. Are you seeing many reasons to love yourself?
How about the things we do?
Did you dress yourself today? Could you love yourself for doing this? Do you remember to wash your face and brush your teeth every day? Is that a good reason to love yourself? I bet there are a bunch of things you do that you don't consider important enough.
But I'm telling you, you showing up for yourself, in the littlest way, is always a good reason to love yourself.
Then there are also the bigger things we do for ourselves and others. What do you do for your partner, kids, and everyone else in your life? What have you accomplished over the last five years, ten years, or since you were born? Come on, play along with me. Let's find those things you've forgotten. The things you're playing down and making "not as important" as it truly is.
I know you are wonderful, and there are so many reasons for you to love you.
So why do we find it so difficult to love ourselves?
The biggest reason is that we're taught it's wrong to love ourselves. Loving ourselves means we are not humble. Loving ourselves means we think we are better than others. Loving ourselves does not leave room to love others.
Thinking like this is flawed.
It's in loving ourselves that we can learn to love others. It's in loving ourselves that we can be humble and lift others up. It's in loving ourselves that we can recognize the beauty in everyone and everything around us.
Will you say it with me?
Oh, my goodness. I love myself!
You can learn to love yourself when you implement boundaries around your beliefs. I'm a boundaries coach and I'd love to help you with this. Connect with me on Instagram, Facebook, or LinkedIn. We can arrange a free call to see what you need and how I can help you.