In order to grow into true self love, at first we must have enormous compassion for ourselves. As women, we tend to use guilt as a self saboteur. When we realize that even our “mistakes” were there for our learning – we did the best we could, with the tools we had and emotions we felt – Put simply, we made the best decisions we could at the time. Our intent was good. And then we learned. It takes a while to learn that what used to serve us quite well, perhaps as a child, no longer does. So thanking ourselves for learning coping mechanisms, (and then creating the awareness to let them go, and grow,) is part of compassion. Negative, self sabotaging, guilty, blaming behaviors act as weights on our divine selves.

It is difficult, for sure, to both recognize and let go of old patterns of behavior, but when we do, we catapult ourselves into a profound, deep knowing of our true selves and divine nature. Letting go of thinking we have to do everything perfectly is one of the greatest gifts of self love.

The reality is that we are hard wired to look for obstacles, negatives, things to worry about – in order to survive. Blaming ourselves for “knowing better” or “making mistakes” makes us into a victim. It is simply taking one small step after another that allows us to turn toward the light, the positive, the fulfillment that is our divine inheritance. We have to first overcome our biology intended for survival and to realize, just like the fight or flight response, it has an infinitely smaller purpose in our lives at this stage of our evolution, but it is still imprinted on us.

Self love means creating new imprints for yourself. Literally, you create new neurological pathways of default responses. Self love also mean knowing we are more than our biology. Having the emotional and psychological discipline to recognize when we are caving in to an old habit that no longer serves us is a big step toward facing our divine selves, and loving ourselves.

The best way to get past that monkey mind of ours is finding quiet, contemplative, meditative time. Ritual. Exposing ourselves to as much positive reinforcement as possible. Give yourself time to really get in touch with your divine self – and fall in love. Use compassion to bridge the gap between guilt and giving yourself that gift of self love – because it is then that you are celebrating life to the fullest. Loving yourself is the greatest gift you can give both yourself, and the world.

(photo from theloveyourselfchallenge.tumblr.com)

Uncategorized