Love Ourselves, and the Rest Will Follow

How do you feel about self love?  More importantly, how well do you love yourself?  For most of us, loving ourselves is something we may know is important (yet at the same time think is arrogant or narcissistic), but often have difficulty actually feeling, expressing, and embodying. As we lead up to Valentine’s Day this weekend and think about the important people in our lives whom we love (or the fact that we wish we had more love in our lives, especially right now), much of our focus tends to be outward and not inward. The ultimate goal of being ourselves in an authentic way is actually about loving ourselves in a generous way. If we truly love ourselves, most of what we worry about and even much of what we strive for in life (and even in our relationships) becomes meaningless. We may still have some worries, and we’ll definitely continue to have dreams and desires. However, from a place of true self love, the fear behind our worries and the motivation for our desires dramatically changes from something we have to avoid or produce in order to be accepted and valued, to something we we’re genuinely concerned about or really want to experience. On the flip side, if we don’t love ourselves, nothing much really matters. No matter what we create or experience we’re never able to appreciate it, ourselves, or to be fulfilled in the process, because we’re constantly striving to be validated in an insatiable way. Self love is what we’re all searching for.  Sadly, we spend most of our lives thinking that someone or something else can give us what only we can give ourselves. To be truly fulfilled in life and relationships, we have to find the love within us and give it to ourselves. No other person, material possession, or accomplishment can do it. It’s up to us. Especially when it comes to relationships, self love is essential.  One of the best gifts we can give to the people around us is to love ourselves in a genuine way.  As my mom used to say to me when I was young, “You can’t love anyone else, until you love yourself.” Read the rest of Mike Robbins article. For this week’s audio message, click here.