Love You for You!

written by Rachel W.

“Love who you are, embrace who you are. Love yourself. When you love yourself, people kind of pick up on that: they can see confidence, they can see self-esteem, and naturally, people gravitate towards you.” – Lilly Singh

We live in a society today where loving yourself is both valued and shamed. We are told “be confident” and “don’t focus on outward appearance,” even though social media and advertisements constantly tell us we need a certain outfit or product to even be confident in the first place. I think loving yourself comes from realizing that you are the only thing you need to begin to love yourself, pushing away from thinking about how others see us and focus on how we see ourselves.

Learning to appreciate yourself is extremely hard, especially for people who don’t like to toot their own horn and really focus on things that make them great. According to dosomething.org, 70% of teen girls have low self-esteem, meaning they believe that they lack in some areas of their lives. The most common contributors to this? These girls think that they are not good-looking. They think that their grades aren’t good enough. They think that the relationships they have, whether friendly or romantic, don’t measure up to those of their peers.

So how can we fix this problem? The most obvious answer is to learn to love yourself, no matter how difficult it may seem. Louise Hay, a pioneer and author in the field of self-help, has said:

“We accept all the different parts of ourselves—our little peculiarities, the embarrassments, the things we may not do so well, and all the wonderful qualities, too. We accept the whole package with love. Unconditionally. Unfortunately, many of us will not love ourselves until we lose the weight, or get the job, or get the raise, or the boyfriend, or whatever. We often put conditions on our love. But we can change. We can love ourselves as we are right now!”

Though it may take time and struggle, learning to accept all our unique qualities is a choice. Just like any other decision in our lives, we can choose love! How can we choose love? Start by avoiding negative self-talk. Mind.org suggests thinking about the way you talk to yourself in relation to others; if you wouldn’t say something specific to a loved one, why should you say it to yourself? The next step is to celebrate your own qualities and achievements. Taking a positive view about your body, your grades, your relationships, and many other things will ultimately make you happier and improve your self-esteem! Lastly reaching out to others can be a way to alleviate any stress you feel. Chances are, someone else knows exactly what you are going through and is willing to help you learn to choose love.

Reaching out to others can also be a way to help solve this problem! You never know if someone might have been too scared to reach out for help, and in the end both parties benefit by helping each other. The one thing we can do for each other is to just love and care for others in order to help them grow.

“A person’s most useful asset is not a head full of knowledge but a heart full of love, an ear ready to listen, and a hand willing to help.”

Always keep in mind that YOU have the freedom over how you love, and know that loving yourself (even though it may not come easy) is not only helpful to you but others around you. Don’t forget to stay positive and make your life beautiful!