Self healing begins with self love

This week’s healing tip: learn to give yourself the gifts of self-love, acceptance, and kindness, daily.

There is no healing substitute for self love. No other energy coming from anywhere or anyone is as powerful as the energy you give to yourself. Your attitude towards yourself matters.

You don’t have to prove it or earn it, but you deserve your own admiration and appreciation just for being alive. Especially if you are prone to bouts of self flagellation because you’ve made mistakes, or didn’t get enough items checked off your make-believe to do list, or somehow feel you’re not worthy.

If you’ve been holding your self-love hostage until you proved to yourself that you are lovable, you’re doing it backwards. You have to love you first, even if you don’t think you’re worth it. Others can tell you how wonderful you are until they’re blue in the face, and you still won’t believe it for yourself until you decide it’s true for you.

Your self acceptance and love of yourself is an act of spirit.

This is your job to do, and to figure out for yourself. Nobody else can convince you to do this, you have to decide. Drop the grudge you’ve held against yourself for somehow not being who, how, or what you thought you should be. If you compare yourself to other people, and find you always come out short, you’re only hurting yourself.

If you’re mad at yourself because you made a few mistakes, you should know that I did too, lots of them actually. So did your best friends, family members, and everyone who was ever human. Mistakes are part of life, and if you haven’t gotten used to them, or you find them unforgivable, it’s time to find a way to lighten up and let that go.

The person you hurt the most by not loving yourself is you, but others notice too. Your energetic vibration is very different when you love yourself, versus when you don’t. Your self hatred will affect everyone around you. Some of them will stay away because it’s too uncomfortable to be near you. Some will try to heal you. Other people will simply refuse to do business with you until you begin running a happier healthier vibration of energy.

None of them have the power to change your self hatred into self love. Only you can do this.

Lack of self love can be taught and learned, programmed right into you. This doesn’t mean you are powerless to change it. It’s your job as an adult to decide you are worthy of love. Begin within yourself, begin within your spirit.

Know this: you are already enough. You’re not missing anything. You have all of what you need within you now. The next best thing you can do is decide to know this, and to do the work required in order to have it. Every moment you spend on this work is worth it.

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one’s own sunshine. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

• ©Kris Cahill
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