Love Yourself Love Another

Love yourself
Learning to love yourself is the first step. You need to love yourself to love another. But how do you do that? Do you know how to love and know yourself? Read this essay on how to love your neighbor as yourself ……

Ways to Love Yourself and Your Neighbors

As we begin our discussion about loving yourself and your neighbors, please keep in mind that this is not going to become religious treatise or a sermon in any way. However, it was Jesus who said, “Love your neighbor as yourself” in the Book of Matthew. This statement is powerful in numerous ways and anyone who hears this statement, whether Christian or not should be compelled to explore what it means to them as individuals.

Let’s look at the “as yourself” part of this statement. How does one go about loving oneself? Isn’t that selfish? What are ways to love yourself? And how can you learn to love yourself if you think that’s either not possible to - or right?

Some people might think that loving yourself is a selfish thing to do. Many of us were brought up that doing anything to take care of oneself, to treat oneself well, or to give oneself any sort of break was selfish and that we should always put the needs of others before our own. Others might feel that loving yourself by standing up for yourself and your rights is selfish. Still others may say that showing love for yourself is being boastful, such as when you practice positive affirmations and work to build your own positive self-image. But caring for one’s self, respecting oneself and demanding respect from others, and building up one’s own self image are actually very healthy ways to show that you love yourself. Learning to love yourself is a good thing, and it’s important not only for your own quality of life, but that of your friends and family.

If you feel you need to learn to love yourself, there are things you can do to build up that good caring relationship between you and yourself.

Tips on how to fall in love with yourself

* First, recognize that the very best thing that you can do for yourself, your family, your friends and the rest of the world is to love yourself. Loving yourself enables you to love others better and gives you more goodness to share.

* Second, start to find ways to treat yourself with more love and respect. Listen to your mind and body and take clues from what they tell you. If you aren’t in the best health of your life, you should look at doing what it takes to improve your health as a show of love to yourself. If you are feeling overwhelmed and depressed, you can get help in many different ways. If your spiritual life is flagging, maybe you need to re-ignite it as a way to show love for yourself.

* Third, if you find yourself in situations where you are not being treated with the respect that you deserve as a worthy human being, find ways to help strengthen yourself and to ask for that respect.

* Creating a good self-image is an act of loving yourself. We’re not talking about going in for facelift so that you think you look younger, although cosmetic procedures can be a boost to self-image. We’re talking about your self-image as in who you are. Who is that person inside the body? The one that loves to plant gardens and share the flowers you grow? The one that teaches eight-year olds to read? The one that meditates every morning? The one that just ran his/her first marathon? It’s OK; in fact it’s good to love that person and to be pleased with that person.

Love Yourself – Love Another

Now that we’ve talked about loving yourself a bit, let’s talk about ways to love your neighbors. We live in a fast-paced world where people run from jobs to meetings to classes to the gym and home again, never having a free moment to even know that they have neighbors. You don’t have to spend all of your time having tea with your neighbors, but loving your neighbor is a very important concept in a world were more and more, we feel isolated. And remember, our neighbors aren’t only the people who live on our street. They are the people in neighboring cities, countries and across the globe. How can we show love to our neighbors?

* Remember that they are people just like you and me. They feel joy and sadness, have pets and hobbies. They want to live peacefully and they want to be recognized for their contributions, just like we do. Take time to ponder that. The beginning of love for a neighbor is recognizing their humanness, and respecting them for it.

* Share with your neighbors. This doesn’t have to be a big deal. You don’t even have to go out of your way. If your neighbor is walking his dog, wave and say hello. If your neighbor is out tending to her garden, take a few minutes to admire her lovely daylilies. If your neighbor suffers a loss, ask if you can help out by walking the dog or tending to the garden while they take time to heal.

* Other ways to love your neighbors could be to volunteer at a local charity, or march for peace if you’re so inclined, or visit an elderly person who doesn’t see his family often. There are an unlimited number of ways to reach out, both large and small. Sometimes the best way to show love for a neighbor is a simple smile and a kind word.

A smile and a kind word… You can show yourself love in that way too. Don’t be afraid to speak kindly to yourself, and to give yourself permission to do what you need to, to care for yourself. In doing this for yourself, you will learn to love those around you more fully.

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