31 Days Of I Love Myself Enough : Day 28
DAY TWENTY EIGHT: I LOVE MYSELF ENOUGH TO GIVE MYSELF THE LOVE I HAVE SPENT SO LONG SEEKING FROM OTHERS
Nobody taught me at school that I could love myself. And nobody taught me how to love myself.
I grew up believing that it was everyone else’s job to love me. So, I spent so much of my life trying to earn that love. Trying to be good enough. Trying to please people. Trying to be the person I thought others wanted me to be.
And sometimes, I did all of this at the expense of my own happiness.
I looked outside of myself for the love, acceptance and validation I so desperately wanted, without realising that the relationship I needed to nurture most was the one I had with myself.
Then I discovered Louise Hay and her teachings about self-love.
At first, the idea of loving myself felt strange. I wasn’t used to putting myself first, speaking kindly to myself or believing that I was worthy of love simply because I existed.
But little by little, I began to understand.
Self-love isn’t about ego, being selfish or thinking you’re better than anyone else. It’s about recognising that you matter, too.
It’s about how you treat yourself. How you speak to yourself when things go wrong. How you honour your needs, respect your boundaries and allow yourself to be human.
It’s about no longer abandoning yourself in the hope that someone else will choose you.
It’s about understanding that you don’t have to earn your worth. You don’t have to prove yourself. You don’t have to make yourself smaller to be loved.
You are worthy of love simply because you are YOU.
And the most beautiful thing I’ve discovered is that the love I spent so many years searching for in others is something I can now give to myself.
I cannot imagine my life without self-love.
Today, I feel happier, more content and more loved than I ever thought possible. Not because life is perfect, or because I never have difficult days, but because I no longer rely on everything outside of me to determine how I feel about myself.
Life still brings its challenges, of course. But I meet those challenges differently now. I can give myself compassion instead of criticism, reassurance instead of self-doubt, and kindness instead of judgement.
And when I get things wrong, I remind myself that I am human, that I am learning, and that I am still worthy of love.
I no longer spend my life trying to earn the love I once believed I had to work so hard for. I am learning to give that love to myself, every single day.
If you have spent years seeking love, approval or validation from others, perhaps today is an invitation to turn some of that love inwards.
You don’t have to wait for someone else to tell you that you are enough.
You don’t have to wait for someone else to choose you.
You can choose yourself. You can love yourself. You can become your own source of kindness, encouragement and acceptance.
And you can start right now.
TODAY’S AFFIRMATION: Place your hand on your heart and say:
I LOVE MYSELF. I AM WORTHY OF MY OWN LOVE. I NO LONGER HAVE TO EARN LOVE, BECAUSE I AM ALREADY WORTHY OF IT. I AM ENOUGH, JUST AS I AM.
Sending you all so much love from my heart to yours 
Lynn
