Valentine’s Day is often thought of as a day for couples and focusing on the love you have for others. However, we also need to turn our attention inside and focus on the love we have for ourselves.
Self-love is becoming more rare as our society focuses on careers, responsibilities, and the next best thing. There’s not a whole day dedicated to self-love; only love towards others. (Side note: Wouldn’t that be cool? A Self-Love Day full of tacos, naps, and anything your heart desires.)
The saying “I love myself” also carries a stigma. People are worried that this may make them sound conceited, so loving yourself is almost discouraged in our society. We also see some people who take the saying “I love myself” too far, and in an aim to not be like them, we refrain from indulging ourselves or loving the person we are.
I don’t believe that the world is divided into people that love themselves and people that don’t. I believe that it is on a spectrum. Everybody deals with moments of low confidence or doubt. It is normal to have both on and off days; somedays you feel awesome about the person you are and other days you feel down. To work towards showing yourself love, you need to not judge yourself too hard and allow yourself to feel the emotions your body and mind need to feel.
Whether you believe in celebrating Valentine’s Day or not, take time to celebrate the love you have for yourself and view it as an awesome thing. The world gives you permission to love yourself and appreciate the strong being that you are.
The Cancer Yogi 