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Finding the time to love you,
Isn’t as easy
As I want it to be.
Other people get in the way.

My responsibilities,
My other loves,
Sidetrack me
Far too often.
And pull me away
From you.

There are things I have to do,
And things I feel I should do.

I leave you until last,
All the time.

I’m sorry for the times
I made you feel ugly,
Unwanted,
Unworthy.

For all the times I have neglected you,
And let you believe that you were alone,
Forgotten.

And the times I criticized you,
Doubted you,
Told you you were not good enough.

I’m sorry that I told you
You have too many freckles.
I’m sorry that I told you
You are too small.

I told you that you couldn’t write;
I was wrong.

I told you you would never ride a wave on a surfboard,
I was wrong.

I didn’t believe in you,

I was wrong.

I betrayed you with those thoughts,
With those words.

I want to make it up to you,

I do.

But first I need to make time for you.

Dear Self,
I’m sorry.

I’m here for you now.

With love,

Linda.

Dear Reader,

Thank you for being here and for reading my little poem,

Every person who reads what I write is important to me.

You, as a reader, are important to me. 

I have neglected myself recently, and it has been brought to my attention by someone who loves me that, apparently, I don’t know my own self-worth.

In fact, when I think about it, people have been telling me for years.

I remember being in Miami Airport at 14 years old, being told by the man checking my bag through that I needed to speak up in life, otherwise no one would hear me.

I didn’t want to tell him that I didn’t think anything I had to say would be important to anyone else.

I’ve been told by an ex-boss, many years ago, that I needed to speak up at meetings.

My opinion was important to him.

I didn’t think what I had to say would be important to anyone else.

I’ve always lacked confidence and chosen to stay hidden on the sidelines rather than being in the spotlight.

I wonder what it would be like to step out there and start demanding with all my heart for the things I really want.

I’ve always envied those who can do that—those girls who always get what they want because they are not afraid to ask for it.

I’ve decided today that, as a first step, I need to start looking after and looking out for myself more.

And it starts with a love letter.

If my poem touched a chord in you, I invite you to take the time to think about these three things:

1. How do you speak to yourself?

Do you praise yourself, or criticize yourself more often?

Do you congratulate yourself when you’ve done a good job?

Do you berate yourself when you haven’t?

Most of us have some kind of internal monologue—is yours a friend or a foe?

2. How do you think about yourself?

Do you focus on the things you have done wrong, or the things you have done right?

3. Do you like yourself?

Step away from the things you don’t like about yourself.

Ask yourself, what are the things that you do like about you?

If you struggle to think of anything, try thinking about what you are good at, or what other people tell you you are good at.

Being good at something isn’t just about being good at drawing or math.

Anything that you can do is amazing.

And remember, you don’t have to be perfect to be amazing.

When was the last time you made someone smile?

Have you ever made someone feel better when they were sad?

Some people are good at making people laugh.

Others are good at football.

Some are playing with cryptocurrencies like marbles.

I know so little about cryptocurrencies that I’m comparing them to marbles.

But I’m good at writing poems and drawing hearts and listening to people.

Imagine writing a love letter to yourself.

What would you say?

Can you tell me three things you like about yourself in the comments?

~

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