It was April of 2021 when the sun seemed to shine a little brighter. The warmth of it seemed to wrap me in a hug. The air I breathed was a little fresher. I noticed the spring flowers that smelled sweet and pure. These elements of nature had always been there, calling for me to notice them. Yet, I never did.
So what was different about April 2021?
That was when I learned how to love myself. I never realized the amount of emotional stress I put on myself each day. I never realized the things I wasn’t accomplishing because I didn’t believe in myself. I never realized the beauty I missed because I never saw beauty in myself.
I came to understand, that we are able to experience so much more of life when we love who we are. When we accept ourselves as we are, no change expected. Of course, growth is always important, but I learned that growth is only possible if we first accept who and what we are now.
If we keep waiting until we are perfect to love who we are, that day will never come, because there will always be something we don’t like about ourselves. We are imperfect humans, and that’s okay. We aren’t supposed to be perfect.
It is possible to love what is imperfect about ourselves. How though?
Spending more time with myself, physically, mentally, and emotionally was my first step. I had to learn to enjoy being around me. It wasn’t easy. It was a long, painful journey. But the light at the end of the path was so much brighter than I ever imagined.
I learned where I came from, who I was as a person, what I wanted for my life, and that I loved people. I learned that I was strong. I had been through hard things, but I survived. I was a survivor.
We are survivors. We go through hard things practically daily. When we pause, even for a moment, and think about ourselves, what will those thoughts be?
Will we feel at peace with ourselves? We are doing the best we can in each moment, right? So of course we will be at peace with ourselves. No? Why not?
We are strong. We have so much to offer the world. We can make others smile. We care about our families. We have a heart full of love to give. Do we not deserve a kind word from ourselves? A compliment from us?
Of course we do!
So how do we become our all-time best friend?
We show up for ourselves. We stay by our own side and cheer ourselves on. We spend time with ourselves to strengthen that relationship.
We will struggle sometimes. So much is expected of us. We will wake up some days unable to offer anything to the world. These are the times where we especially need to be there for ourselves. We will easily be able to see what we are not doing and try to tell ourselves what we should be doing. In reality, we just need to be present. The dishes can wait. The laundry will be there tomorrow.
We only find motivation if we give ourselves hope for a better tomorrow. Smile at ourselves in the mirror each day and tell ourselves, “We believe in us. We love us,” and, “We are doing a good job. We are good.” Because we are.
Every part of us shines with beauty, even when we need that shower but can’t get to it. Every part of us is worth loving, even when we lose our patience. We deserve to give ourselves our love. Yes, we do deserve it. There is never a time where we don’t.
Now, why is it important to be our all-time best friend?
Because we deserve our unconditional love. We deserve to be cheered on by ourselves. We deserve our compliments. In order to experience more of life, we need to get out of our own way by letting go of self-hate and being a supporter to ourselves.
When we show up for ourselves, we can more effectively show up for those we love. When we have love to give to ourselves, we have so much more love to offer to those we love. When we enjoy spending time with ourselves, we will have more time to give to those we love.
Now is the time to start being our all-time best friend.
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