The Journey of Loving Self
“You’re always with yourself, so you might as well enjoy the company.”
– Diane von Furstenberg
It is often said that the journey of self-acceptance is probably the toughest one. Maybe, because we’ve been conditioned right from the start to live up to the expectations of the society. Moreover; intentionally, unintentionally we often seek validations from people in and around us, and at times end up defining our personalities on the basis of the perceptions of others.
Little do we realize that Our personality is not a reflection of the perception of others but instead a reflection of Us. We are constantly battling to be ourselves in a world that is trying to make us like everyone else. Most of us today struggle accepting and loving ourselves wholly because we have spent years looking around instead of looking within.
Never lose your individuality in the wake of pleasing.
As Beyonce quotes, “Your self-worth is determined by you. You don’t have to depend on someone telling you, who you are.”
Self-acceptance issues usually snuggle in when we do not accept our flaws. Each and every human is flawed. We all need to find beauty in imperfection. Be honest and ask yourself this simple question, “How many times have you neglected or overlooked the flaws and imperfections of the people you love?” Quite a number of times, right. Then why are we so harsh on ourselves and mindlessly run behind perfectionism.
We have been raised to believe that perfectionism is a great quality to have. But, today there are tremendous research studies talking about the ills of perfectionism and how dangerous it can be on one’s health.
‘Our society suffers since the day our generation normalised perfectionism.’
We always end up comparing ourselves with others, wanting them to accept us completely and wholly, we end up confiding into different individuals trying to bury our imperfections and flaws.
But, I think we all should try to realize Self-love is a prerequisite of loving others.
We all should understand the inner voice inside us, introspect and appreciate ourselves for what we are. We need to be mindful of our emotions, be kind to the inner us, and recognize our imperfections . We are always in the pursuit of true happiness but true happiness also comes in when there is self love and acceptance. Remember the words of Kristin Neff — a professor of human development at the University of Texas at Austin — “Love, connection, and acceptance are your birthright.”
Let us all practice the art of talking to ourselves everyday, introspect and look within. The day we accept ourselves, is the day others will accept us. The way we look at ourselves, is the way others are going to look at us.
Let us detach ourselves from all the worldly pleasures and learn to be our very own lovers!
The next time, someone asks you, “What do you love about yourself?”
Say, “I do not love myself in parts but, rather in whole.”
~ Lastly remember, You deserve the love that you all the time keep giving others!
-Mallika Grover
