Dating : 1. Self-love For Beginners

“You, yourself, as much as anybody else in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha

I often forget this. For me it is a daily struggle to love myself and to be content with who I see in the mirror but I know I`m not alone. With this blog I hope to contribute to the many conversations around loving yourself, inspire people who may feel they are lone warriors in this war against their mind and help reduce the stigma that surrounds self-love while continuing on this journey to becoming a ‘better me’.

For me, Self-love is a work-in-progress, its an ever-changing and ever-lasting travel not necessarily with a final destination. However to begin on this travel, is not an easy task. For me, like many others the journey on the path of self-love has come about through pain.

Acknowledging my pain has been one of the most significant, if not the most significant thing I have done in my life, understanding that my pain is necessary, it is an essential part of my life and that there is no shame in feeling it. I have in the past (and presently from time to time) fed my pain and given it power and made it the driving force for my life. That is something I am actively changing.

I now strive to see my past painful experiences as exactly that. Experiences. I always remember them and acknowledge them and the way they have shaped me as a person but I do not let them rule me.

I now try to accept my past painful experiences as life lessons, I now understand and accept that I will have more painful experiences in the future (they are inevitable) but also that my future wont be dictated by my past. I try to take everyday — one day at a time. I try to be thankful for every moment and I try to love myself.