Sure, Valentine's Day is a highly commercialized holiday (like the rest of them, right?) and it's tough to be around people in love if you're not in a relationship on this day. And some might say "why do we choose just one day out of the year to celebrate loved ones when we should be doing that everyday?"... Fair enough. It's no wonder people cringe at the first sighting of a dozen roses or a heart-shaped balloon attached to a co-workers desk on this day.
But, like anything else--you have a choice in how you respond to this holiday. You can buy into the conventional version of Valentine's Day...you can be cranky as hell all day long...OR you can re-define it to mean whatever you want it to mean to you. That's what I've done, thanks to a wonderful gal (you know who you are!) that planted this little idea in my mind about a month ago. Me and this gal are even co-hosting a party tonight for ladies (single or otherwise) to celebrate all forms of love--particularly the most important kind--self-love!
What is self-love? Self-love is not the love that we seek from other people...but rather it is the love that you find from within. If you have trouble with showing yourself love, it's not because you don't have love for yourself but rather it's because somewhere along the way your love became covered up. Somewhere along the way you receieved messages that to love yourself is narcissitic or self-indulgent or maybe you learned that you aren't worthy of loving yourself. OR maybe you learned that you are only supposed to have love for others.
Self-love is THE most important form of love because when you have self-love you need not look anywhere outside yourself to feel love at any given time.
Self-love is giving yourself permission to:
* be your best (and not feel guilty about it)
* enjoy your life
* live the life you want for yourself
* make your dreams come true
* make mistakes
* be pampered and cared for
* feel your worth
* expect that others will appreciate you and love you
as much as you do
Here are some great ways you can show yourself love today and on a regular basis:
1. Make a Gratitude list. Think of at least 3 things you are grateful for before going to bed every night. This is sure to lift your spirits and the Universe gets the message that this is what you like and the positive feelings you have associated with what you are grateful for is what you would like to have more of. By doing this, you are attracting more abundance into your life!!
2. Create a personal mantra or affirmation. Make sure it's meaningful. Write your mantra down somewhere if you are having a particularly tough time remembering it. You could make yourself a wall-etsized version of it or even write it on your bathorrom mirror with a dry-erase marker. If you are stuck--here's one I wrote for you:
"As my basic human right, I am deserving of love...a love that is patient, kind, humble, peaceful, joyful, protective, trusting, hopeful, accepting, forgiving, understanding, and determined."
3. Create powerful intentions. We can choose our everyday attitude about life. An intention is like an attitude or an approach to life. Here are some examples:
* I intend to live more in the present.
* I intend to choose love over fear.
* I intend to trust in my intuition.
* I intend to open my hear more to others.
* I intend to live in a state of forgivenss.
* I intend to share my truth more.
* I intend to maintain my inner peace in all situations.
4. Develop a Self-care Practice. Having a self-care regimen is critical to good physical and emotional health. Without it, we run the risk of wearing down and becoming totally unavailable to others. We often end up nurturing the heck out of the ones we love and leave no energy to care for ourselves. Make a commitment to a regular self-care practice today. Is there something you need to be doing daily for your well being? How about activities that you like to do purely for fun's sake? What about activities that feed your spirit? Make a list of these activities and incorporate them into your life starting TODAY!
5. Ask for Help. One of the greatest things I have learned to do for myself is ask for help when I need it. It is one of the most loving things you can do for yourself! For instance, instead of trying to be fiercely independent when I got my wisdom teeth taken out a couple weeks ago, I asked my friends to pick me up and take care of me for several days. Also, when I am trying to process something I'm going through or I need to make a tough decision or perhaps prepare for an event I'm nervous about--I close my eyes, get real quiet and ask for some assistance from my inner guide (which I refer to as Spirit), and meditate on it for a while...and boy, do I get answers!
So, those are the basics for self-love! I hope you found this helpful and I hope that you choose to enjoy this day and celebrate your essence--that is, the loving spirit that is inherently you.
Much love to you all,
xoxoxo,
Brooke
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