Strife, anguish, depression, anger, and sadness have become common themes in a lot of lives due to the terrible effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on our lives. Some days you are perfectly alright having fun playing games on your computer with your Intertops casino bonus, but other days you feel empty and tired when, in fact, you spent all day doing nothing.
Due to the fact that the world is in shambles, albeit beginning to put the pieces back together, many people have had a lot of time to spend with themselves. Some people have used this time to enjoy and reflect upon their lives and the world.
They’ve spent the time doing the hobbies they enjoy very much or thinking about who they are and trying to improve themselves both physically and mentally. For others, this just meant they had too much time to think about how much they dislike themselves.
This is not a healthy way to live. People cannot spend their time hating themselves or thinking about how much they wish things about them were different. Of course, it is wonderful to always want to improve yourself, but you should also be accepting and understanding of who you are in the now.
And this is the beginning of how one can live a more peaceful life. It must all begin from within the person. You cannot be at peace with your environment or situation unless you are at peace with yourself first.
“And You Shall Love Yourself Like Your Fellow”
Perhaps one of the most famous lines or passages in all of the Bible is, “…And you shall love your fellow like yourself…” Leviticus 19:18. I have only ever heard people speak of this line in reference to how you should treat other people.
However, I personally take from the passage that one should be careful and strict about loving themself as well! I know many people who are the most kind, sweetest, and caring people in the world. Yet, they can be very hard on themselves. Usually unduly.
I think this passage has a beautiful message if we flip it onto its head. If we take the intended meaning of the passage to be about treating others with love, then you can turn it around and say that if you treat others with love, you have to treat yourself with love as well!
You shouldn’t think it is okay to be mean, hard, or unfair to yourself just because it doesn’t affect other people. How you treat yourself is just as important as how you treat other people.
Sure, how you treat yourself may not directly affect other people’s lives, but it can begin to bleed over into your behavior and begin to affect how you treat others.
For instance, you can “throw” or “project” your own feelings onto other people. If you are really upset with yourself for being lazy, then you can get mad at someone else for being lazy because you hate that about yourself.
So, don’t just think that because it isn’t directly affecting anyone else that it isn’t too big a deal. You cannot truly love someone else unless you love yourself first.
You Are a Beautiful You
The fact is, self-love is in high demand and short supply these days. In many ways, this is due to our modern culture. People see others on social media, movies, TV Shows, and advertisements, and begin to perceive many little flaws in themselves.
People are pushed towards the idea that how they are now is ugly, and they need to buy X, Y, or Z products in order for them to be beautiful. They have to change this and that about themselves and dress in exposing clothing for anyone to find them attractive.
It is my opinion that the number one thing that people feel self-conscious about, or dislike about themselves is something physical. Sure, people can feel negatively about their personalities, etc, but it seems to me that a lot of people lack confidence because they feel they lack beauty.
This isn’t true. This is something I’ve thought for a long time, and it seems many other people don’t share this opinion about themselves or others: Almost all people are not ugly!
Physical beauty or handsomeness comes second place to being a kind or a confident person! I have seen many people, both men and women, that others would think of as “ugly” or “attractive” and could imagine them smiling or laughing at a joke and could see how someone could love them.
The simple fact is, you are not ugly. The only person who thinks you are ugly is you. If someone else calls you ugly, it is not because you are actually ugly, but because the other person lacks depth in their view of the world, or is self-conscious about themselves.
There are other ways as well that can help you find the beauty in yourself as well. One way is to dress in clothing that makes you like how you look. Pick clothes that fit you well, and accentuate the parts of yourself you want to show off.
Let’s say this is your eyes. Then pick colors that help bring out the color in your eyes. Or, wear clothing that makes people naturally look up towards your face instead of your body.
However, the number one thing I could say to help you find the beauty in yourself, is to take care of yourself! Keep yourself clean, shave when you need or want to, and keep your hair neat in a style you like.
Dress in a way that makes you find yourself attractive, and it will go a long way to helping you like yourself. The key is to remember you are dressing for yourself, not others. If you like the way you look, people will see you wear it well.
Self Love
There is also the important aspect of loving who you are as a person. The first thing I need to do, however, is to define what it means to love yourself.
Many people don’t even know what it means to love yourself. They think you have to be okay with and love every single aspect of who you are. This is false. If you think this is what it means to love yourself, then I think you would be hard-pressed to find 1 in every million people who loves themselves.
To love yourself is to accept, understand, and be patient with yourself. To accept your flaws, understand that you are still growing as a person and it is okay to not be perfect, and be patient because change takes time. Don’t demand from yourself to be the perfect version of you overnight.
If you can work on these three things, then you can put yourself on a true and steady path to completely and wholeheartedly loving yourself for who you are. Nobody is perfect, and nobody has no “demons in their closet.”
Loving yourself is about self-improvement, not self-perfection. Even if you live your entire life and there are still things that you dislike about yourself while you are on your deathbed, then that is okay. What matters is that you recognize your flaws, accept them as part of you, and try your best to improve.