Have you ever thought how your life would look like if you really loved yourself? During my recent vacation, I took time to journal and meditate over this question.

If I really loved myself, I would:

• Think only positive thoughts;
• Cherish my uniqueness;
• Treat myself as if being my most honored guest;
• Never think of myself as not being good enough;
• Love all parts of my life and of my past;
• Spend time with people who love me and wish me best;
• Not stay in the relationships that are not empowering me;
• Do only things I really want to do;
• Live in the present moment;
• Never play small/allow others to make me feel inadequate;
• Affirm every day how loveable I am;
• Love and cherish my body.

So many various ways to love myself! Some of them feel easy (affirm every day how loveable I am) while some of them are more difficult (not stay in the relationships that are not empowering me). But no matter how small or big progress towards loving ourselves we take, it always brings positive changes in our lives and ultimately in the lives of others. We can’t love others without loving ourselves first.

I noticed that the more I cultivate loving attitude towards myself, the less fear I feel. The less stress, anxiety, sadness or even expectations from others. Being loving makes me feel that all is well. Fear has no chance when love is present.

Self-love is not a very popular topic in our society. It is being mistaken with egoism. But nobody who truly loves themselves can be egoistic. To the contrary, love is very generous, kind and compassionate. The more I love myself, the more love, kindness and compassion I can extend to others. In those situations when in the past I hurt somebody or didn‘t have enough compassion for them, I know that it was because I didn‘t feel enough love and compassion for myself at that moment.

There is only one love. We all have to start with ourselves. It is actually not that difficult. With self-love, we get rewarded immediately. We feel better and people around us feel better too!

Ask yourself a following question and let your inner voice guide you:

If I really loved myself, I would …