Love Yourself

February is the month of love. We take time to let the people in our lives know how much we care about them. This could also be a time to reflect on
your own self-care as well. Think of the words “Love your neighbor as yourself.” It’s hard to love your neighbor if you don’t love yourself. This seems to be an issue with many people. There are so many people dealing with depression, thoughts of suicide, sadness, and negativity. 

I had a friend ask me if I knew what she could do about her son who was always in a bad mood and was not treating the family very nice. I had the thought to ask her how he felt about himself. She said that was the problem; he didn’t think much of himself. I suggested she give him more compliments and help him see his good side. We all
have a good side, we just need to let it show. 

How do we let our good side show? It starts with what we are thinking
about ourselves. If we have negative thoughts running in our heads constantly then we are suppressing our good side. Thoughts like “I’m not good enough,” “Everybody hates me,” or “I’m a loser,” are never true for anyone, therefore we are telling ourselves lies if we think those thoughts. 

I’ve come up with an activity that has helped people get out of the negative to help them see their good side. I have them write all the negative thoughts they have been thinking on a piece of paper. When they have made that list I have them think of their future self and imagine all the good qualities their future self will
have. Then they write all these good qualities on a piece of paper. Then they imagine that person. They close their eyes and send love to their future self from their heart. Eventually they feel the love coming back from that person to them and their negativity is gone. This can be a powerful activity for people, and it doesn’t take very long.

When we love ourselves it is easy to let our good side show and to love our neighbor as ourself.