Love yourself first and everything else falls into line. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. Lucille Ball
The self-help movement has done so much to support improvement in every area of our lives. We can improve our relationships, communication, businesses, and financial strategies. We are also admonished to improve our health, fitness, and overall well-being. These are all worthwhile endeavors. Then we are told we should improve our teeth, our hair, our clothes and our car. We are bombarded with ways to improve every facet of ourselves, even when those parts of us are just fine. This can both grow and erode our self-esteem.
This is where self-help can escalate into self-judgment and even self-hatred. Constantly focusing on improving ourselves can easily imply that there is something basically wrong or flawed with who we are and how we show up in the world. It’s extremely important for us to love ourselves, this means to first become comfortable in our own skin—to be okay with ourselves, warts and all! Yes, we want to grow and improve so that we can become more of who we are and express more of the joyous Divine-self that is the truth of our being. Then we can focus on improving the things that really make a difference or help us to contribute more to life, to our families, to the things that matter to us.
Spiritual Contemplation: Which parts of your life are you improving because you think there’s something wrong with you? Which parts of your life are you improving so that you can expand and grow? Where can you love yourself just a little bit more?
Affirmation: I love myself, just the way I am. I focus on improving only those things that allow me to grow and expand.