Day 6 -self love
Just realised that it said write an engaging title! Day 6 self love? Hmm, I'll come back to that! If I was seeking fulfilment and happiness and to be loving what title might jump at me?
"Feel the love you deserve." ?
"Love yourself" ?
If life revolves ultimately around love isn't now the time to start channeling your own self love?!
definitely room for improvement?!
So down to business
Day 6 is the first day of our new commitment in our vows to ourselves from yesterday. How well are we doing?
Would we have achieved a gold star? or a could do better?
If we are still viewing it as such, maybe, just maybe its time to drop the judgement a little.
When you love a spouse, partner or child do you love them conditionally? Or is it a little more as the movies say sometimes in-spite of everything, love is just there, even when we don't necessarily like people we can find space and room to hold them truly dear and still love them and want to give them the world. Why then do we struggle to do this for ourselves.
The book suggests today we should treat ourselves as babies and love ourselves unconditionally.
Baby love by the Supremes definitely got me thinking about this one
"baby love, my baby love, I need you, oh how I need your love,
but all you do is treat me bad, break my heart and leave me sad"
We do definitely struggle to love ourselves, even though that is what we are crying out for, what we need. Why do we break ourselves with criticism and only give ourselves love when we deem we have earnt it?
Today to practice unconditional self love. Start with acceptance, love will follow.
Look in the mirror - what do you see? Be kind and loving in your interpretation and notice how difficult this can be.
I listened to a ted talk that was about how parents are able to love their children against great challenges, both physical and mental and even against their better judgement, because they are a part of them. What about us? We are a part of ourselves, maybe it's high-time to channel in to our inner Mother and Father figures and protect and nurture our inner child so they can feel safe and loved enough to come out to play?
Take time to really look in the mirror and acknowledge and celebrate everything about yourself - including the "I am a bit podgy round the edges from the huge cake I had yesterday". oh no? - just me then?! - Anyway - accept you are a work in progress, but that you will love yourself along every step of the journey. That every line, wrinkle, roll, scar tells the story of you and while you can seek to improve, its all the chapters that make the end story so interesting and the whole you so wonderful.
In Japan they have Kintsugi pottery - this is celebrated - when a pot or piece of pottery gets broken they mend the pieces together with gold - thus acknowledging how something is more precious for its flaws! As Camiimac.com quotes "the true life of the bowl began the moment it was dropped" What if we extend that inspired thinking and love to ourselves?
OK some more food for thought -and loving a list here is my added on challenge to you.
Write a list of everything you can think of that you love doing, or used to love as a child and muse over how you can bring some of these fun activities in to your daily life as a way of extending love to yourself.