Learning to Love Yourself. #250

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Good day, people of Hive! Welcome to my blog. Today's topic is from Ladies of Hive, which says:

If we realize that we should love ourselves more, yet no one teaches us how to do so, how can we begin to love ourselves? What can we do to feel better about ourselves? so let's dive in.

We all grow up hearing the words “love yourself”, but the truth is, many of us don't know how. Some of us were never given the actual meaning of the word. While growing up, we're told to always help others, respect people, be nice to others, etc., but no one really shows or teaches us how to love ourselves. Some of us have this mentality that it's not until we become successful, perfect, or achieve more in life that we can love ourselves. Some even grow up putting themselves last and putting other people first, which to me is not good, we have to balance it.

I would like to share what I understand about this week's Ladies of Hive topic.

Loving ourselves simply means treating ourselves kindly and with respect, even when we know we're not perfect. Like people always say, “no one is perfect” — which is true. We all make mistakes and learn from them. The way we treat people with respect and kindness, how we encourage our loved ones when they're down or facing challenges, how we forgive them when they make mistakes and realise it, and how we wish or want the best for them, that's exactly how we should treat ourselves.

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Another thing is that some people are fond of talking to themselves, to the extent that they keep calling themselves names when they make mistakes. If they keep doing this and calling themselves such names, they will start believing it. So instead of insulting ourselves over little mistakes, let's find encouraging words and talk to ourselves in a kinder way.

Also, taking care of ourselves is part of loving ourselves. There's no need to spend a lot of money to prove we love ourselves. We can simply eat food that's healthy and gives us strength, get enough rest, and so on. By doing these, we are loving ourselves.

Sometimes, loving ourselves means saying **“no” when we need to. Some people, just because they want to please others, do things that are uncomfortable or even dangerous for them. If we always say yes to people but never to ourselves, we will feel drained. Sometimes it's not a bad thing to say no to people. It's not because we're selfish, but because we're loving ourselves and putting ourselves first.

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Another thing about loving ourselves is doing things that we enjoy and that make us happy. Like my brother always says, if we keep chasing after money and forget to take care of ourselves, it’s that same money we're chasing that we will use to take care of ourselves when we fall ill. Let us do what brings smiles to our faces. It could be listening to music, drawing, dancing, cooking, playing instruments, etc. Doing these shows that we love ourselves and that our happiness really matters to us.

To love ourselves, we also have to forget our past mistakes. My brother also says that if we let our mistakes ruin us, we will never grow, nor will we love ourselves. To love ourselves, we need to forget the mistakes we made in the past and move on. We can't change the past, but we can choose to learn from it and move forward.

Furthermore, the people around us matter a lot. If we're surrounded by people who never value us, who keep insulting and looking down on us, it will really affect us, and we will find it hard to see our value. So instead of spending time with people who never value us, let's spend more time with those who value, respect, and encourages us.

In conclusion, loving ourselves is not something that happens at once; it's a slow process. It's like a baby learning how to walk. Let's not wait until we're perfect or rich before we start loving ourselves, we can start now, and the feeling will grow over time.

This is my entry for the Ladies Of Hive Community Contest

Thanks for reading💞💞💞💞💞.