From a young age, we’re told to love ourselves. This can be one of the most confusing ideas to wrap our heads around. It’s a concept that I don’t think we understand until a certain age. This age is different for everyone because some people are given opportunities that others aren’t. One of the silver linings of the pandemic was my ability to learn self-love.
I wouldn’t say that I loathed myself before this period, but I didn’t respect myself. This can look different for everyone, but for me, it was always thinking that I was doing something wrong or that people around me didn’t like me. I was so insecure, and I didn’t know my worth. COVID-19 devastated the entire world, but it also posed an opportunity for many. Millions of young people were practically forced to spend time by themselves, which many hadn’t done before. A lot of people resented this and just wished for life to go back to normal. But these kids would come to find out that they learned a lot about themselves during this time.
I was definitely one of these people. I felt like isolation granted me a giant breath of fresh air. I had nowhere to be and no one to attend to. With this time on my hands, I learned about who I was and what was important to me. I learned that time spent alone is absolutely vital to our overall health. Most importantly, I learned that I love writing. I spent so much time during this period writing about this weird time in history and how it was affecting everyone. I would later go on to major in journalism and still love writing to this day.
Self-love is something that I’ll forever learn about. Self-love is an investment. It’s not a one-and-done type of deal. Self-love is really a commitment to put yourself first and above all, respect yourself. We’re all that we have at the end of the day. Investing in yourself is the best investment that you can make. So, please, wherever you are, remember to take care of yourself and give yourself some grace. I promise, you’ll thank me one day.