Let's Talk About... Loving Yourself

Valentine's Day just passed and we made sure that our loved ones felt the love, but what have you done lately to make yourself feel loved?

The past couple of months for me have been anxiety-ridden. Never in my life has it felt like an elephant is sitting on my chest for weeks. Never in my life has it been so hard to get up in the morning. Never in my life was it hard to put out content. Never in my life have I wanted to cry every single day. Anxiety has never lasted months, without even a day of some normalcy.

During those couple of months, I learned different ways to cope that seemed to help. Remember... if you are having feelings you can't seem to shake, seek professional help. I'm no professional. I'm just speaking from my own experience. Salt lamps, exercise, breathing and meditation, praying, talking to my closest friends... those are just a few of the ways that I tried coping with my anxiety.

When I'm dealing with anxiety, I find it really tough to like who I am. Loving myself is difficult when I have anxiety about different things. Have you ever had a moment when you can't seem to find a single reason to feel worthy and loved? I sure have.

I really enjoy making the people around me feel special and loved. I love doing things for David that say, "I love you." I like writing my mom a little note reminding her that I'm thankful for her. I enjoy inviting my friends for dinner when I know that they are going through something. I love taking my nephew down the street to the dollar store for some candy and a balloon... or as Bentley calls it, "baboon." No joke and it is the cutest thing.

How often are you doing something for someone else? How often are you showing little gestures to show someone that you love them?

Now... how often are you doing something for you and telling yourself that you love yourself?

A few months ago, I took myself on a date to Ponce City Market. I was going through some things and really needed to do something for me. It was great and it made me realize that I wasn't doing enough to focus on myself.

Loving myself is something that I have really struggled with for my whole life if I'm being honest. Sometimes, I feel like I don't measure up and other times, I find myself hating my physical appearance. I'll find myself not giving any time to relax. Not giving any time to pamper myself. Not rewarding myself. I'll find myself not being kind to myself.

I've started taking myself on some more dates. Sometimes, that just means I stay in and make some popcorn, drizzle it with some melted dark chocolate and watch a good movie (got Netflix? Highly recommend Love, Rosie). Other times, I enjoy a nice meal alone where I can just sit, eat, and read or work on some projects.

Loving yourself can be a difficult thing. The thing about loving yourself is that I feel like we think it means that we can't have off days or anything. Maybe we feel like loving ourselves means that we love everything, but I think loving yourself is more of an unconditional love. I've learned that I can love myself even when I'm not feeling my most beautiful. I can love myself and continue to work on myself.

Loving myself has been (and will continue) to be a journey. I've started to really focus on gratitude. I just find that focusing on what I'm thankful for completely changes my mindset. I've also started thanking my body. Like I said early, I struggle with body confidence. I always have, but I've started to look in the mirror and tell my body how much I love it and that I'm thankful for it. I'm thankful to have legs that can walk. I'm thankful for my health. I love my smile. I even love my feet.

Love yourself. You are worthy of that!

x,
Amanda