10 Ways to Love Yourself | Char

Ten ways to love yourself  ♥️

By Char

Recently, I came across something that blew my mind. “. Love your neighbours as you love yourself” I know right?? What?? That’s crazy!!

All over social media and in real life also, we are taught that to love and value yourself, is the worst thing that you could possibly do. It’s selfish, self centred and all round wrong.

Yes I’m no self love master, Wonder Woman or all round Body positive expert. At 14, I’ve got a load to learn about myself and the world and that’s ok. It’s a process. We’re human. It’s ok.

♥️

1: Check in with your body:

Are you hungry,

Are you thirsty,

Are you tired,

Do you have a ton of energy and wanna dance to Beyoncé on your family Alexa ( sorry mum ha ha)

Ok. Your body knows what it’s doing and it was created to feel,

So don’t ignore it,

It loves you!!

♥️

2: balance;

Now I am not gonna lie, I can quite often be found cocooned in my bedroom wasting the day watching Netflix and eating copious amounts of Biscoff ignoring everything that’s going on around me. In my own little world full of stunning, beautiful high school popular kids, text message threats and breakups, impossible worlds and fantasies that will never actually happen.

However, I can also be found actually not sitting down in a day, being so busy with homework assignments, tests and all round mind boggling information.

See, it’s all about balance,

Work,

Rest,

Play.

♥️

3: journal

If you know me, you’ll know that this had to come up at some point. I used to think that journaling was all “dear diary, I hate this person, I love this person” and definitely not worth doing. However, over the past year or so, journaling has been like a psychologist who doesn’t talk back to you, just absorbing your every feeling. I’ve learnt so much about myself spiritually, mentally and physically since I started journaling. I definitely think, once you get through the misconceptions, it is a mass factor in self acceptance and love.

♥️

4: Laugh, cry and let yourself feel,

Sometimes,

We just need to laugh those belly aching laughs with our best friends while smacking the table and feeling like you can’t breathe ( Thank you my girls for supplying plenty of these moments over the years)

Sometimes,

We just need to lock ourselves somewhere with our child hood teddybear and let the tears fall. Sometimes, we don’t even know what about, sometimes it’s all pent up inside you just waiting to release itself when something tips us over the edge.

Whatever emotions it is,

Give yourself permission to feel it. It’s ok to have emotions, we all do! ( unless there’s Robots reading this blog that Rae didn’t tell me about 😏)

♥️

5: know where your safe places are,

Here’s me. Raw, unedited, imperfect me in my safe place. It’s so so calming to be somewhere where all you can hear are the birds calling to each other as if they’re in a Disney movie, the waves rolling up and down.

To me, this is utter peace, it’s beautiful, I feel safe and totally loved.

Do you know where your safe place is??

Where can you go when the going gets rough,

If you don’t know where that would be, I urge you to find out. It does the world of good!

♥️

6: Find what you love and then pursue it!

Child hood dreams, prophetic words, passions, things that set your soul on fire and make you want to get up in the morning.

Dare

To

Dream

Honeyyyyyyyy ♥️♥️♥️

♥️

7: Know who loves, values and cares for you. Surround yourself in positive presence;

I know, I know it’s hard. Not to be dragged into toxic friendships. I know it’s hard. At 14, this challenge rears it’s head pretty much everyday but it can apply to everyone.

You do not deserve anything less than positive people around you. People who care. People who pick up the phone in your darkest moments. Pray for you. Laugh with you. Cry with you. Value you and love you.

Toxicity,

Fall outs,

They happen,

But remember, in the darkness,

There is light in the form of a handful of beautiful people.

♥️

8; random acts of kindness

Making someone feel good can be so good for both yourself and others. That warm glow that you get in your insides when someone smiles at you. The gratitude you feel if someone helps you up when you fall, the uplift in your mood when someone makes you laugh.

They don’t have to be big things to make an impact.

Remember the laughing fit you had after a period of being really down in the dumps

The girl who smiled at you during Secondary/ high school double Biology,

Be the rainbow in someone else’s cloud today! ( Maya Angelou)

♥️

9: Trust God and read the word; know your limitations and let God do the rest.

Before I get into this point, I do realise that this point may not apply to every one of you beautiful humans but just ride the wave.

Trust God,

Be free,

You’re saved.

Trust,

Deliver,

I know that even during my darkest, I’ve had some pretty cray cray times In prayer and experience and it really has boosted confidence, faith and most of all LIFE!!

If something is really getting you down,

If there’s something you’re holding onto,

Pray. Pray with people, bible journal, feel, process.

It’s gonna be ok.

♥️

10; Be gentle with yourself, you’re only learning and that’s ok!

Don’t beat yourself up,

You’re doing the best you can,

Not even the best, all round self love warriors can be positive all the time,

You’re not superhuman,

You’re not perfect, but you are you,

And you is enough!

Big love!!!

Charlotte ♥️♥️♥️