Here’s the thing, to be completely honest with you, self love is something I take weirdly seriously. At the end of the day, the person you want to love you the most should be yourself. Self love is something that trickles into every part of your life and has the ability to make everything better. I know it sounds painfully corny, but self love is not selfish. You should never feel guilty about what’s doing best for you. I think we all can agree that the road to self love is not always pretty and can be bumpy along the way, but at one point or another we are all faced with a time that self love is of the utmost importance. However, I am here to remind you that we should never wait for a reason to love ourselves.
So…being that this is already a super cheesy topic, let me amp it up a bit more and hit you with some self love quotes that will hopefully open your eyes to the importance of having self love and a strong sense of self. I know they are corny and lend themselves to an immediate eye roll, but just this once try to look at them in a different light.
“I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side.” Maya Angelou
“You give life to what you give energy to.” Unknown
“We can climb mountains with self-love.” Samira Wiley
“Talk to yourself like some you love.” Brene Brown
“Practice reckless optimism” Unknown
“How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.” Rupi Kaur
“You are not abandoning anybody by taking a step back.” Unknown
“When you focus on the good, the good gets better.” Abraham Hicks
‘You can’t pour from an empty cup.” Norm Kelly
“Love yourself unconditionally, just as you love those closest to you despite their faults.” Les Brown
“Taking care of myself doesn’t mean “me first.” It means “me, too.” L.R. Knost
“Loving yourself isn’t vanity; it’s sanity.” Andre Gide
“To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness.” Robert Morely
While I could go on and on about what all these quotes mean to me, I think it is far more important to allow you the chance to interpret them for yourself. These quotes are short, sweet, and seemingly obvious at first glance, but, if you let yourself dive a little deeper, I hope you are able to find your own personal connections to them. And don’t get me wrong — 9 times out of ten I don’t vibe with a lot of the ~inspirational~ messages out there. But hey, it never hurts to have a little reminder. And please, always remember that it is okay to take a step back from things and give yourself the chance to focus on you.
So many of us spend so much time giving to others that we have nothing left for ourselves at the end of the day. And if you are at all like me, I love more than anything to be there for others and do everything I can to make people’s lives a little bit brighter. However, the only way that that is sustainable and healthy is to truly take care of yourself. I promise that this is the best way to make room for growth and success in all other aspects of your life. By having a strong sense of self, you allow yourself the luxury of never having your decisions influenced by any external circumstances. The side bonus is that you are able to give so much more love and compassion to others, without dipping into your own supply. And if you are not yet in the place to take on all of my cheesy quotes and messages know that that is okay, and just take this as a little love note from yours truly.
<3 Emma
Edited by Carolyn D’Auria 11/15