From the moment we are born, we’ve been given milestones that we must achieve. We must learn how to talk, walk, go to kindergarten, high school, college, get a master’s degree, find the perfect job, get a spouse, make money, have kids, then grandkids, retire, and die. And with each milestone, comes the brief ecstasy of reaching our goal followed by the disappointing realization that our lives didn’t actually change. So we think “happiness” must be in the next goal we achieve, and we go on and on but happiness never comes.

We are always looking for something more.

We constantly thirst for the next vacation, for Friday, for whatever objects we want to buy, for new clothes, for the future. Yet whenever we get these things, they stop being so desirable. They become “normal”. We get used to them. And this insatiable thirst keeps growing because there’s always something new to chase, there’s always something “better”.

Life passes and we remain unfulfilled.

We are miserable with ourselves and we think that someday, one miraculous thing will finally fill the void we’ve felt our entire lives. But nothing ever does. Why?

Humans are complex creatures. We have a physical body that we use to experience the third dimension. But we also dream at night and spend most of our days inside our heads. We have emotions, feelings, desires, and afflictions. And yet, we foolishly pretend that we must only tend to our physical body as if all the other aspects of ourselves didn’t exist!

This is why we suffer so much, because most of us have been taught to bathe, wash our hair, dress nicely, and look great while completely forgetting that we are more than our bodies. Society tells us that we’ll be happy if we follow the trends and that without money and popularity we are nothing. The problem is that we have come to believe this lie. We have been programmed to think that only physical riches will make us happy. We have forgotten to truly love ourselves.

“Love yourself” has been one of the most popular mottos of the recent years, but how do we really harness self-love? Let’s quickly look at a few ways in which we can practice self-love and improve our level of happiness.

1.  Get to know yourself

Self-love starts with getting to know who we are. When we know who we truly are behind our egos and our masks, we can begin to honor our Being by answering to its needs.

How do we get to know ourselves?

Do you remember how you’ve gotten to know every other person in your life? You’ve probably spent time with them and asked them questions about themselves. To know yourself, you must do the same. Spend time alone. Meditate on your life. Remember what you were drawn to as a child. Analyze your motives, your actions, and your thoughts. Get to know who you truly are at the core of your being.

 

2.  Respect yourself

Think about a person you have high admiration and love for. How do you act towards them? That’s the same way you want to act with yourself.

You wouldn’t talk to them in a disrespectful manner, would you? You wouldn’t be criticizing them or being mean to them and you certainly wouldn’t think that they’re not enough. You’d address them with dignity.

You can also imagine that you are taking care of a child. Would you be poisoning that child with damaging substances? Or letting that child sleep around? What kind of people would you want that child to be surrounded with? Deep inside, you are that child. You just have a better understanding of the world and have aged a bit, but remember that you deserve the same loving treatment as any child in the world does.

 

3.  Incorporate habits into your life that promote self-love

We become the things that we repeatedly do, so being aware of our habits is of utmost importance if we wish to honor ourselves.

When we speak of habits that promote self-love, it isn’t always about doing the things that give us temporary bliss. We want to create a foundation that will benefit us for this entire lifetime.

What kind of habits are these? Ones that align with who we truly are. We have a few essentials that we’ll briefly share with you:

 

• It is important that we have a habit of self-knowledge such as meditation to remind us of our essence (if you don’t know how to meditate, check out this post).
• We also recommend journaling, which we’ll address in a second.
• Incorporating exercise into our routine is necessary because we only have one vehicle and we must take care of it!
• Having habits that help us reach our goals always feels fulfilling. Time invested in our talents or activities that we truly love to do is never wasted.
• Last, but certainly not least, we must pay attention to our toxic habits and delete them from our schedule.

 

4.  Affirmations

Affirmations are powerful statements that we’ve told ourselves our entire lives, but some have been damaging our self-esteem for years. It is important that we tell ourselves positive affirmations that empower us and flip the negative self-talk we have inside our minds. Accepting ourselves as we are isn’t always easy, but affirmations can help us ingrain a new, loving script that will reprogram the way we see ourselves. Practice positive affirmations that align with the ideal version of you. We have a few great ones that you can use here!

 

5.  Journal

As we mentioned earlier, journaling is a habit that can immensely help our self-love journey.

Journaling is more than just writing down our day to day activities, it is a place where we can introspect our lives and magnify the root of our negative beliefs. There are many ways to journal, but for this topic, we think that you’ll benefit from a few questions that may guide you. Reflecting about the right questions can trigger our inner being to give us the answers we are looking for. We have attached a link to a powerful self-love journaling exercise. Hopefully, you can take advantage of it!

Self-Love Journaling Exercises 

Self-love is an odyssey of its own. It takes courage to like ourselves as we are in a society that constantly tells us that we have to be a certain way to be happy. But we are set free the moment we accept ourselves and understand that we are perfectly made and that the masks are no longer necessary.

All it takes is a little investigating, but as we delve into the waters of self-discovery, we understand that we are so much more than what we have or how we look. We didn’t just come into this world to follow the status quo and die. We have a bigger purpose. We are pure magic. We are Divine Beings. And every single one of us is oh, so worthy of absolute love.