love yourself

I want you to love yourself.

I want you to see your beauty, inside and out.

I want you to acknowledge the things you do that you dislike, and then I want you to show yourself some compassion. Remember that sometimes we do what we know, not because we want to, but because we need to retrain our habits, behaviors, and actions.

I want you to remember that you are doing your best. Sometimes you’re doing your best even when you’re the worst, but if you know that you aren’t, then well, I want you to acknowledge that and be curious about why not.

I want you to notice how you feel; to pay attention to your mood, energy, and spirit. I want you to listen to your body.

I want you to chase the things that fill you up, that bring you joy, that show the world your happiness.

I want you to remember the things you used to love.

I want you to schedule in time to reset your mind and your thoughts. I want you to take care of your soul, to rejuvenate the very best version of you.

I want you to prioritize yourself and embrace you. Embrace every inch of your body, every breath of your soul.

And I am telling you I want you to do all of this because I forgot to.

Recently, life has been a lot. I have been neglecting myself; I have been surviving. I have been so focused on my to-do list that I forgot to show up for me.

We all go through periods where it’s easier to support ourselves and periods when it feels impossible to keep going.

With the fear surrounding the pandemic lifting, I’ve put a lot of pressure on myself to leap back into life.

So here I am reminding you that sometimes life is hard, like forgetting to love yourself hard.

Take a moment and love yourself.

Wrap your arms around yourself. Give yourself the biggest hug and say these words out loud, “I love you.”

If you feel silly, that means you need to keep doing it. Lean into the uncomfortable feeling. You may feel ridiculous the first 10, maybe 20, times. But after that, it just feels good.

It feels so good.

Life doesn’t stop, time doesn’t stop, but we can.

We can remember to love ourselves even when it feels impossible to keep going because that’s when we need it the most.

Taking a moment, every day, to give yourself a hug, to show up for you, that can change your whole life.

I want you to support yourself more.

I want you to love yourself more.

And I want to remember to love myself.

So give yourself another hug because life is hard and say “I love you” because you need it more than you know.