It makes common sense and science can back it, but it doesn’t always make our priority list to offer up a little love to ourselves. However, the rewards would be substantial if we did.
Imagine if you kept in mind to be kind to yourself throughout the day. That doesn’t mean that you reward yourself with a new pair of designer sunglasses or let yourself indulge in an extra dessert. Being loving to yourself goes beyond “gifting.”
Being loving to yourself means making decisions that have long reaching rewards and offers up good results through the actions taken. The designer sunglasses would be skipped over in favor of paying off debt and reducing financially induced stress. It would mean investing the money in learning a new skill or taking a class that would result in a higher paying career instead of the experience of looking good in the mirror or impressing others whose opinions don’t matter.
What if you offered up a dose of love to yourself that involved surrounding yourself with primarily supportive friends and family members? If you sought to fill your thoughts with positive thinking? If you made good health a priority? If you set yourself up for success in each and every opportunity?
The answers are obvious. You would be less stressed, would move forward in a direction that would be fulfilling and exciting, and in the long run your disciplined choices made out of love would be putting your life on a path you want for you.
It isn’t easy to be love-minded for ourselves, even when we have love for our fellow man, the earth, nature, and those with less. We may have been taught through experiences with others that our needs should be secondary and rarely met. The result is, according to experts, that we bypass the truly love-filled moments because they take more thought, time, and effort and instead we opt for the quick ones that give temporary joy like buying the designer sunglasses or ordering a dessert when we certainly aren’t hungry.
As adults, leaders, business owners, career ladder climbers, parents, and other types of professionals and caretakers, we are responsible for the welfare of others, but we forget we are also responsible for ourselves. In taking care of ourselves and investing in our best, even if the choice requires we allocate an hour to go to the gym rather than the 5 minutes it takes to order and eat a dessert, we will be doing the very best for those that depend upon us.
Setting yourself up for success, for a long, active, healthy life with healthy relationships and a fulfilling career that you love is worth the time, thought, effort, and mindful choices it takes. Give yourself permission to show yourself love and make decisions for yourself that are for your very best interest.
In every choice, in every thought, ask yourself if the decision will add value to your life and weigh the decision against perhaps a better one. Invest your time, money, and effort into you and everyone you encounter will be better off for it. Keep focused on your self-worth, and put yourself in loving situations that have high valued rewards. You’re worth it. Make it happen.
