Do you know what Loving Yourself Really Means?

didn’t. I thought loving myself was basically treating myself to a night out with friends or buying myself a hot new pair of shoes.

To be honest, it took me quite a while to really understand the whole concept of ‘loving myself’ and it was only then did it really start to have a profound effect in my life.

For me now, loving myself means a multitude of things including:

1) Learning to speak up for myself and honoring my feelings. In loving myself I realized that no longer needed to just ‘go along’ with what other people wanted.

2) Learning to put myself first and be selfish sometimes. If I don’t take care of my own needs then who will?

3) Treating myself with kind words and encouragement. I am only human at the end of the day so there really is no need to beat myself up for making mistakes. Mistakes only require correction, not punishment.

4) Not tolerating poor or toxic behavior from other people. This was a big one for me. Learning to love myself included giving myself permission to walk away from people who continually hurt me.

5) Learning to be assertive and stand up for myself

6) Having good boundaries in place and teaching other people how I would like to be treated.

7) Giving myself plenty of rest and relaxation time.

8) Being my own cheerleader.