Loving myself truly took some time.
The world loved me in a you-need-to-earn-my-love-over-and-over-you-are-never-enough kind of way. And that is how I loved myself. An empty love. Today I can say I love myself wholeheartedly.
I embrace my imperfections. My failures and my immaturity in things. Seeing myself as this unique beautiful creation. Outwards and inwards. Oh and yes I have my struggles. Most definitely. Yet embracing those beautiful talents. Those unique features in my character and face. Those extraordinary things only I can bring to the table.
Giving myself grace in my messes. Giving myself grace in the things I haven’t figured out. I can truly love myself. And be myself. Giving myself time to erase the lies and replace them with truth.
Loving yourself is a choice you need to say yes to over and over. We are all made so perfectly different. I struggled with being different for a while. Not knowing how to be it in the sight of the world. Keeping all too myself. Yet to truly be yourself and to love yourself you have to risk it all. You have to show you. You have to show your shine. Vulnerable as it can be. You need to dare to stand up. And be. Not only do. But be.
You need to dare to fall. To understand the beauty of going down to soon rise up again. Like the perfect sunsets will rise up in all their glory in the morning again. Daring to be in front of others. Being vulnerable. Being different. The world needs you. It needs your shine. There is no like you. And daring to be in the silent of the day. Being honest to yourself. Exploring all your sides. The dark and the ever brights.
“My face is on all of the photos cause showing me is also a way of loving myself and being me.”
Ten ways I love myself:
1. Being Unapologetically You
The best compliment and piece of advice I have ever gotten was, ‘But you are Therèsa’. The best compliment and piece of advice I can give you, but sweetheart you are YOU. Let that sink in. There is no one quite like you. There is no better way to love yourself by being you. In all your quirks. In all your sass. In all your beauty. In all your laughter. Shine. In all your ways. Being unapologetically myself for me means daring to shine. Showing messy me in public. Not standing in the background but showing the richness of my deep soul. To give the world the dance that only you can dance. And that is scary I tell you.
2. Being Honest to Yourself
We are wired to protect ourselves. I tend to keep myself busy when something is off in my subconsciousness. Times like that I need to stop myself. Get in the quiet and ask myself. Hey, what is going on? What are you feeling? What do you need to explore? And pray about it. Facing something that might hurt. Yet keeping yourself from crashing somewhere down the line. Be honest with yourself. Even when it hurts so bad. You owe it to yourself. Loving yourself through all the hurt.
3. Balance
Balancing yourself will keep you healthy. Your body, soul and spirit. I struggle with this one often. I tend to go all-in or go home. Which is good in the right portion. So work, rest and play. I have mistaken work for play often. I thought I was playing or even resting while I was actually working hard. Look into what work, rest or play means for you and when your balance gives you peace, and energy. We work from rest. And play to keep our childlike wonder.
4. Your pace
Knowing in what season you are in is loving yourself immense. To give yourself the grace and understanding of your season. Pray, and pay attention to what is happening to know your season. Walk your own pace. Live your own season. Don’t compare. People can’t be measured, they are so unique. Seasons and life stories can’t be measured either. They are too unique. Fall in love with your life story perfectly written for you and together with you.
5. Invest
Spend time with yourself. Get to know yourself. Invest in the things you like. Have conversations with yourself. The things you find important. And the ones so silly to you you fell in love. Take time to invest in yourself. It won’t always be easy. But always worth it. To explore more about you. You are an endless ocean. Take time for you in the chaos of day.
6. Doing things that scare you
I love the quote “Do every day something that scares you’’. Getting ourselves out of our comfort zones right into our passions. For starters, I am scared to sing in front of people yet I love writing songs. Scared of being photographed in public, yet I love modelling. Scared of being noticed yet I love to impact the world. Daring. Is loving. And giving to others.
7. Being in His Presence
Letting myself wooed by Gods love is filling my love tank overflowing. By Him whispering over me who I truly am. Cutting through the lies I am believing. I learn to love myself in deeper dimensions over and over. To learn who love truly is. To learn who I truly am. Over and over. Deeper still. Sinking in His love.
8. Being in tune with your feelings
You are not your feelings. They are some amazing assets. To feel life so extraordinary deeply. To be truly alive. I am a feeler. Yet I didn’t allow my feelings to be felt. You start to become a survivor in a mingling of only hurting feelings. Once I tasted how it felt to be alive. I said I want to feel it all. It all. All the rough feelings. Of utter joy. Of deep pain. I cried my eyes out. Letting the hurt slowly heal. I let myself be utterly amazed. Tasting beauty in deeper dimensions. Seeing things I’d never seen before. Let your feelings be felt. So you can move on. To the deeper richness of life.
9. Love your body
Your body is a temple. I love my body by eating clean. By putting natural harmless cosmetics on my body. By challenging it sportive which is still a struggle. By keeping it pure sexually. By choosing to believe that my body is beautiful with its striae and bouncy hair. What you focus on grows. So you better love that gorgeous body of yours and treat it well.
10. By keeping healthy boundaries
Healthy boundaries mean letting go of control. Laughing at life. Taking responsibilities to carry freedom. Saying no wholeheartedly. Or saying yes with a passion. Loving yourself with knowing what your standards are. Valuing who you are and keeping your worth. And doing the same for others. To protect your treasures.
To dare yourself.
And to just be.
Wild Hearts 