The One About Loving Yourself

"Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you, or makes you happy." -Unknown

I came across this quote today on tumblr & it spoke volumes! Often times we (myself included) put ourselves in or stay in situations that are not healthy, happy or even hopeful for us. Whether it's a job, a relationship or a big move if something isn't right for us we should know to let it go & move on to something that is. It should be that simple, but unfortunately this isn't always the case.

In my experience, I have stayed in relationships for years because I didn't want to be alone or didn't want to start over & try again with someone new. It was never healthy, I was no longer happy, but I still stayed.  The same can be said for a job; how many times have you stayed with a company for fear of not having an income or simply because you have gotten to comfortable with the mundane? I know leaving a job isn't the easiest thing to do, especially in today's economy, but if you don't take a risk or make a change then why complain about the fact the things remain the same?

 A conversation with a close friend one day brought up the topic of loving yourself. She said that we needed to learn to love ourselves first & then be able to love others and she was right. How can I not love me for me, but expect someone else to? If I don't like my skin, my hair, my face, my heart & my soul, how can I believe him when he says he does? It doesn't work. Loving yourself takes time and patience. It takes learning, understanding & exploring who you really are. You are not going to be the same person that you were in high school as you are in college or after college.

Our lives go through stages so that we can become better versions of ourselves and more to love. I am working on this everyday because to be honest I don't love everything about me, but I want to get there. I want to love myself like God loves me & he loves me so much that he gave up his only son to forgive my wrongs, so why is it so hard to forgive myself for things that I can no longer change? I can't undo the past, but I can learn & try not to make the same bad choices. I can learn to let go of the negative friendships, relationships and activities. I can love myself enough to do it differently. I can respect & love myself enough to walk away, to let go & to live on.