Self-love

This is a topic that I struggle with on a daily basis and so, by writing about it, I hope that it’ll make myself and you more mindful of how we treat ourselves. Self-love, put simply, is an act of kindness towards oneself. It’s not something that we are taught and, sadly, we are also not encouraged to open up about. Self-love involves how you regard yourself, do you value who you are in society and do you consider your pure self worthy?

It’s difficult to practice self-love if you don't understand how to and it’s not the same act for everyone. We all travel from different paths of life, some crave a thrill because they’ve been living too restrictively and some need to slow things down a bit. Regardless of your circumstances, be patient with yourself and listen to your body so you can separate what you need from what you want. Treat yourself in ways that will rejuvenate your mind, body and soul – take long walks for no reason, go out with friends and have no curfew, plan healthy meals, adapt a skincare routine and go for a massage as often as possible.

If you still don’t agree with me and think of this as just an excuse to spoil yourself then consider this. Perceive yourself as a separate person for a moment, how would you treat that person? You wouldn’t dare break them down on every little imperfection or mistake of theirs nor would you constantly remind them about how much better someone else is compared to them. You would encourage them to take care of their appearance and to treat themselves better. If this makes you realise how much damage you’re actually doing to yourself then, perhaps, perceive yourself as a separate person every day until self-love is second nature for you.

It’s not selfish, it’s essential – if you can’t love yourself then no one else will be able to.