If you are going to fall in love with someone else you need to fall in love with yourself first.
Okay, yes, that does sound slightly odd. It’s not exactly like everyone is going round advocating for self-love. But the reality is that we actually need to be. We need to be encouraging each other to be comfortable in our own skin. Don’t just tolerate yourself, actually love yourself.
Think about it this way, two half people can’t make a whole. Insecurities that are present as a single person are sure to present themselves in a relationship further down the track. If your identity is placed on your relationship, you are definitely going to be let down and emotionally bruised when you hit speed bumps. When you know who you are, and you place your value not in your relationship, but in how God sees you, you can be assured that speed bumps in a relationship aren’t going to be a personal attack on your identity, but can be tackled knowing that you are a child of God who is utterly loved, adored and cherished. When you understand that God has made you a ‘whole’ person, you don’t become complete when you have a wahine or matua, you can be completely confident in your own skin.
This isn't even just about relationships though. Friendships too. When we get our identity and satisfaction from our friendships, from who they are as people, their position or their affection that they give us, then we are only going to be gutted when they disappoint us, because lets be honest, it’s going to happen at some point.
So I thought I would write a wee list of 10 things I love about myself and encourage whoever you may be reading this blog to do the same.
I love:
1. That I am a natural encourager of others
2. My décor style – modern meets rustic
3. My sense of humour
4. My legs (when I shave them haha)
5. My ability to see the positive in negative situations
6. I’m a hard worker and reliable
7. My love of food
8. I make others feel included
9. My style in music
10. I’m free to be myself without caring about what others think