Do you tell yourself I love you? Do you smile when you look in the mirror? Do you take time out of your day for you?
Each of these questions alludes to one thing: a positive self-image rooted in self-love. We often love our caffeine, children, spouse, parents, occupation, and hobbies more than we love ourselves. Learning to love yourself takes effort and acknowledgment, but its benefits are rewarding.
What is self-love?
Self-love is defined as regard for one’s own well-being and happiness. There are three types of self-love:
- Physical—refers to how you see yourself
- Mental—refers to how you think of yourself (self-acceptance)
- Psychological—refers to how you treat yourself (self-respect)
For self-love to manifest, you must make yourself a priority. Developing self-love takes time, so you must practice it daily. Here are four benefits of self-love:
Acquire life satisfaction
When you genuinely love yourself, you create a mindset of acceptance. You become willing to accept your life stages and situations, and take responsibility for your actions. You also recognize where the love, happiness, passion, and authenticity come from. When you acknowledge the power you hold over your life, you become satisfied with how you live it. Simply being satisfied with your life has a great mental impact, contributing to an overall lower-stress life.
Develop a healthy lifestyle
During the journey of loving yourself, you’ll want to give your body everything it needs: sleep, food, water, and exercise. Living a healthy lifestyle is difficult for most people, but it can be done to help you reach your goals. Loving yourself will give you motivation to incorporate your goals into your daily routine. The positive results of your lifestyle will soon shine through as you build the confidence to begin new challenges. Benefits of developing healthy habits include being thankful, spending time alone, practicing mindfulness, allowing forgiveness, and wearing your confidence proudly.
Learn to deal with adversity
When you love yourself, you will feel less stressed or uncomfortable when going through difficult events or situations. You won’t compete with or compare yourself to others. You’ll embrace your hardships. You’ll become an optimistic thinker, and you’ll be willing to get creative and try new things.
Develop healthy self-esteem
With self-love, you’ll develop healthy self-esteem, which is feeling good about yourself, your opinions, and your abilities. Having healthy self-esteem means you understand failure is a learning opportunity, not a painful indicator of defeat. Your pride and confidence aren’t easily diminished when you value your opinions and abilities. In daily tasks and activities, you’ll complete things without hesitation. Self-esteem plays a huge role in your mental health. By having a great level of self-esteem, you’ll be less likely to suffer from loneliness, drug or alcohol abuse, or anxiety.