What does it even mean to love yourself?!?
Healthy self-love matters
“You can never meet your potential until you truly learn to love yourself.”― Teresa Collins
I started Fall In-Love w/ Yourself February back in 2012.
I’d separated from my narcissistic abuser the summer before and was beginning to see just how beaten down my relationship with myself had become. I put a call out for submissions, wrote a couple of posts myself, and that was that — it was great! As a survivor of a narcissistic mother, who had then spent over 15 years trapped in an abusive marriage to another narcissist, I had realized that my first question was: “What does healthy self-love even look like?” …
So I set out to learn what healthy self-love looks and feels like.
And it’s been a continual work in progress — this business of learning to love myself in holistic and healthy ways. It’s also a continual surprise — like recently my food preferences have begun changing. I actually want big salads for lunch now because I truly want to nourish my body and support my healing (chronic stress has done a number I tell ya!). Many times through the years I’ve attempted to make changes in the way I eat like this, but they never took.
Why has this change been so sustainable for me?
The new depth of self-love I’ve been settling into these past few months.
Now, I am NOT saying that to truly love yourself you can never eat fried foods or that sugary coffee treat. I still indulge regularly in things a dietician would likely cringe about.
The difference is that big salads make my body feel good — they give me more focus and energy through the afternoon, but the biggest difference of all is that I am in a space where I truly understand that I am worthy of the added work and expense it takes to eat this way every day.
That is the difference that makes this change sustainable — believing that I am worthy of taking care of myself in this way. I am worthy of spending time prepping these salads and worthy of spending the money on all of the fresh and yummy ingredients. I am worthy of enjoying the experience of stepping away from the computer and gathering up my current read for my lunch break. I am worthy…
THAT is the difference of self-love makes → Knowing I am worthy.
And I know you are worthy too.
You are worthy of spending time doing things that nourish and nurture you body, mind, and soul.
You are worthy of pleasure, profit, and passion.
You are worthy of falling deeply and profoundly in love with the one person who will always be with you — yourself.
Fall In-Love w/ Yourself February continued every year until 2019 when illness forced me to step back and rest awhile. The format changed from year-to-year, but the essence remained the same — that life is better when we love ourselves.
But I’ve missed it — a lot.
I know many of you have missed it too because you’d reached out to me, again and again, asking when and if it will be returning.
I’m so excited to share with you that it is back this year and better than ever!!!
This year it is a daily email — a Love Letter to Yourself. The first email heads out on February 1st and they continue every day during February. I promise not to write any epic novels — time is precious for all of us. These emails will be short(ish) bits of wisdom, support, and encouragement.
Don’t worry, none of these letters will be too terribly long, nor will they have extensive homework assignments.
Just 28 Love Letters to Yourself during the month of February because, truly, life is so much better when you love yourself.
Thank you for reading.❤
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