The Journey

A couple of days ago, a friend shared with me how much she hated mirrors and reflections. For years she was so disgusted in her self that she avoided looking in mirrors and anything that could reflect her face. You can imagine how difficult it is. She was so full of hatred for her hair, her smile, her voice she was sick of everything about her. Ibukun was able to share this with me because few years back, she started a journey and is getting really close to her destination already.

This is the journey of self-love. If you had asked me before if I loved myself, I will always reply saying yes. Even though sometimes, when I'm in bed I become depressed, consciously tormenting myself with thoughts like "I'm not good enough" "I cannot achieve this thing" "I don't like this and that" among other things. Then, I realized I was far from truly loving myself. Truth is, there are so many people out there struggling with these things and as I earlier said, self-love is a journey.

Self-love is a feeling which makes you feel complete and whole. It involves you clearing out the garbage and filling yourself with acceptance and love for that special being "YOU". You need to break from cycles of anger and replace it with positivity. Note that, you are your own worst critic. Self-love is essential to living a happy and meaningful life. It is an unconditional feeling of love, appreciation and acceptance for yourself.

In this journey, it is important to realize that, there is an inner voice and you must be conscious of it. Pay attention to what you tell yourself most often. What do you say when you do something amazing, and what do you say when you fail? You have to watch it. Take control of your inner voice so next time you catch yourself saying something nasty to yourself, be quick to correcting it. Control it and say something nice instead and just keep doing that.

The journey proceeds to you treating yourself like a child. The moment you envision yourself as a child, you will notice that the harsh judgement melts away. Therefore, change the tone of your inner voice. Don't stop loving yourself emotionally and physically. Turn deaf ears to that shii he or she says about you. It doesn't make you and it is not their business. Self-love doesn't mean loosing or adding a few kilos, it doesn't mean getting your hair done and wearing the best makeup, it doesn't come wearing the best tuxedos.

If you put on a few kilos, would you still look in the mirror with the love and appreciation? Do you like yourself even when your hair is messy and you got a few pimples on your face? Self-love is deeper than you think. What we often take for self-love is a conditional liking of the person we are. And one little "mistake", we punish ourselves by taking that love away.

Self-love comes from within. It is there and will always be no matter how lost we may feel, no matter how unworthy and unlovable we may be. Michelangelo an Italian sculptor and poet once stated that "Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it". The love we need is already there within us waiting to be discovered. Until we discover the love within, we cannot see all the love that is on the outside.

Therefore, commit yourself to this journey of self love, a journey that will make you love every second of it. You,  yourself as much as anybody in the world, deserve your love, appreciation and affection.





                 








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