Self-love is one of the hardest and most misunderstood things in the world. It’s also at the very centre of any personal development and improvement – whether we’re aware of it or not. The world keeps on telling us a lot of things and our minds don’t really stop. The internal dialogue is real, even if we’re doing our best to silence it. And the worst part is that more often than not, it’s quite negative. Negativity is a plague and a source of many problems. It also makes it harder to love yourself, because negativity makes your self-image distorted. But how to fight it…?
Be a Friend
It may sound like such a simple thing (even cliché), but why are we so eager to help others and not ourselves? Why are capable of treating other people decently – like friends, but we can’t be our own friends? When a friend comes to you with a problem, you most likely won’t call them an idiot and tell them they’re hopeless and they should just give up. But you make one mistake and that’s what you say to yourself. Don’t be so hard on yourself – find a balance. Just because you did something right, it doesn’t make you the greatest human being in the universe. Just like doing something wrong doesn’t make you the worst one. So, become your own friend.
Be Real
Yes, it goes without saying – we shouldn’t roam too to the opposite border. That would be lying to ourselves all the time. Finding that balance could be a lifelong journey. Be that as it may, it’s still worth it. But how to be real? Admit to your wrongdoings, but don’t be a tyrant to yourself about it. No need to get overly critical. Just learn from it and move on.
Daily Practice
Sel-kindness can be a long journey. Thankfully, we have plenty of different tools available that can help us make it easier and more fruitful. Let’s take the practice of mindfulness. It’s been around for ages in one way or another, but it’s become particularly popular right around the time we needed help – when the pandemic hit. Plenty of people were forced to completely stop their way of living. That’s when depression hit and other dark thoughts followed. We understood how important it is to be at peace. Peace that’s not dependent upon anything external. Mindfulness is all about finding a way to it. And we can actually practice it on a daily basis.
Many Roads
That’s great news for everyone – there are plenty of different options to choose from that can help you get there. Many practitioners swear by the benefits of a special kind of breathwork. Some recommend meditation, while others claim that engaging in some sort of creative activity, like something you’d learn during craft courses, is the way to go. The truth is – it doesn’t really matter. They say that because it worked for them. If something’s just unbearable to you, chances are you won’t be able to benefit from it. Your mind will be blocking you. And getting over that mental hurdle can prove too big a task. So don’t sign up for gardening courses (as great as they can be), if you absolutely loathe any kind of manual labour. But don’t give yourself an easy way out either. So, you’re not an outdoorsy person… And? You still have to spend some time in nature. Give yourself some time to find your likes and dislikes. Once you start seeing tangible results, you’ll enjoy it more.