5 Ways to Love yourself.

Love By: gags9999 

As a way to kick off Love someone else Friday, I decided we should spend some time deciding to love ourselves.  This can be hard. I know sometimes I have a hard time loving myself. I've heard somewhere that you have to love yourself before you can love others. Well I don't know if that is true, but I do know that if you are going to love others well you need to love yourself.

So lets get started, how can we love ourselves?

Love is always By: Sara Alfred 

1. We can love ourselves by setting priorities.  Priorities allow us to keep from becoming overwhelmed on unimportant things. Setting priorities is a great way to keep from allowing things to take over our lives. If you love yourself you should set priorities of things that matter to you. That way when you are asked to do something, if it doesn't fit within your priorities you can say no. If it something you feel should be a priority, then maybe you need to look at your priorities. Putting the more important things in first and slowly filling in the smaller less important things. Love yourself, set priorities.
2. Another way to love yourself is by taking time to rest. God gave us this example from the very beginning, when he rested on the seventh day.  Jesus showed us this example by getting away from his followers, including the disciples for some much needed time of rest. Ever one of us needs to rest. When we do to much it wears us down, can cause us to be just plan unproductive. So love yourself and get some rest.
3. How about looking at your self talk. Negative self talk is not a way to show you love. Check the self talk and do everything you can to make it positive self talk. How to make sure you have some positive self talk? Make a list of your positives and then tell yourself those things. When you catch yourself saying negative things about yourself pull out your list. Evernote for your phone is a great place to put this kind of list so it is always with you. Don't have a smart phone? Well post-it notes are also a great way. Put them on the mirror, in your car dash, or on your desk. I even have one as my background on my work computer. Love yourself and tell yourself you love yourself!
4. Another good idea to love yourself is to eat healthy. My co-worker and I were talking about this the other night. The more we flood our bodies with the not so good the worse we feel. The better we eat the better we feel. My sister and I drank smoothies for breakfast for a few weeks. At first I had headaches, but after a few days it really made me feel good. I had more energy and it was just better. Love yourself and eat healthy.
5. The best way to love yourself is to accept love from others. Yes, you do deserve it! God loved us first, it is by accepting that love that we are able to mirror his love to others. That works all the way around, by accepting the love of others, you can show them love as well. Showing love doesn't have to come from accepting love, but it is one way to help you keep from feeling like your giving and giving. Accepting love helps you to realize that you are worth it, and it helps you to refill. So love yourself and accept love.

Now as you put these ideas into action this coming week you will be better prepared to love others through July. I hope you can remember that you are loved and that you are worthy of being loved.

Join me on Fridays of July as I challenge you to love others and remember you are loved.