The Greatest Love

With Valentine's Day around the corner - it has got me thinking about LOVE, of course!

I would like to assume that most people love 'love'. The word itself though can be applied to a range of different contexts though. For example: I love sushi, I love my husband, I love driving my new car, I love watching movies, I love my job etc.

So, I thought it might be interesting to delve a little deeper to see what it actually means - what it looks like, sounds like, feels like. 

This is what I know... 

We are all born. We all grow up. We all want the same thing.

We all want to be loved. It doesn't matter what form that takes but we all want the same thing: to be loved.

 What is the most challenging love that every human has though?

 What is the love most of us spend our lives trying to find and hold on to?

 What is the one love that eludes the majority of people you speak to?

It is the love of SELF.

To be completely open and honest...this is something I have struggled with for a long time and I have come to understand that it is purely the result of the story I tell myself about who I think I am and what I think I am worthy of. 

The other thing I have learned...is that every single human is the same. Different experiences...same stories.

What if you simply devoted the rest of this year to loving yourself more?

The love we have for our family, our children, our partners, our friends etc runs deep in most people and you often hear people say that they love them (their family etc) more than they love themselves. 

But love is not something we give or get. It is something we nurture and grow. A connection that can only be cultivated by two people when it exists within each of them.

We can only love others as much as we love ourselves. 

We can not pour from an empty cup. In order to fully love, be completely open and give our best selves to our family etc, we need to be looking after and loving ourselves first.

Sounds like it should be easy, right? Oh boy! I wish it was! But like anything we want to get better at and improve in, we must practice that love every day.

Loving Yourself LOOKS Like:

* Being patient with yourself when you didn't do what you said you were going to do or when you make a mistake or when you say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

* Remembering that you are human and not being too hard on yourself.

* Knowing you are imperfect in body and mind but you are still worthy of love and belonging.

* Setting boundaries for yourself and for others - it is ok to say 'no' and to know where your boundaries are and letting others know where they are too.

* Showing your true inner beauty, your heart to the people around you 

Loving Yourself SOUNDS Like:

* Being kind in your words about yourself when you are speaking to others. Be conscious of how you talk about yourself to others and also the words you tell yourself.

* Talking to yourself like you would someone you love.

* Asking for what you need

* Speaking your truth

* Owning your story - whatever that story is about who you are and what you can do.

* Self-belief instead of self-criticism

* Complete lack of judgement of yourself

 Loving Yourself FEELS Like:

 * Knowing you are worthy of love from yourself and others and worthy of everything good in your life

* Joy, even in the challenging times

* Focusing on loving yourself more than the idea of other people loving you 

* Being vulnerable - allowing yourself to feel vulnerable because you are showing your true self and being your true self.

Loving ourselves through the process of owning our story is the bravest thing we will ever do.

Imagine if we could love ourselves as much we say we love our partners or our children - what kind of world we would have!

Imagine if we could then teach our little humans to see themselves through the eyes of the people who love them the most in this world!

Imagine if they grew up loving themselves and knowing, that with all of their imperfections, they were worthy of love and belonging and were extraordinary people just for being put on this earth!

Imagine......

Perhaps, we should love ourselves so fiercely, that when others see us, they know exactly how it should be done.

(Rudy Francisco)

Until next week my friends...have the most loving week.

Remember to be loving and kind to yourself also!

Clarissa xo